Love at first sight or love everlasting: a feeling unknown or just unexpected… Everyone admits that love is wonderful and necessary, yet no one agrees on just what it is. Some say it is a feeling, and some say it is an impression.
But I say love is, if true, the essence of our soul and subsistence. Like the famous canto… a game of beginning and a story without end… where each maid is a heroine and each man a friend…
Let me share with you some of the most famous true love stories in which the lovers never parted… but their love lasted for as long as they lived…
Napoleon and Josephine
The story of Napoleon and Josephine is one of the greatest love stories in history. They remained deeply in love with each other throughout their married life. There are various accounts of how Napoleon and Josephine had first met. But what is known as a fact is that Napoleon had fallen head over heels in love with her the moment he had seen her the first time. And his passionate love is reflected in his love letters which still exist, and very famous. It was most probably in one of the social gatherings that they had met each other. Napoleon was a national hero, had an up-and-coming career and was in great demand all over Paris. Josephine, on the other hand was previously married, had two half-grown kids and was 6 years older than Napoleon. It was a bit difficult to understand why Josephine was interested in Napoleon at all, because compared to Josephine Napoleon was penniless and lacking in social graces. But like they say, love if pure, binds no folds. And Napoleon too was most charming and generous. Regardless of all the discouragement of his family, he not only married Josephine but did everything for her kids. He generally did whatever he could to make them feel comfortable with him. As the legend continued, the love between Josephine and Napoleon only ever inflated with time.
Justinian and Theodora
Justinian and Theodora were inarguably the most successful couples of all times. Theodora was beautiful, bright, witty and amusing perhaps that is why she had won Justinian’s love so much. Justinian was violently in love with her. She was indeed the sweetest thing in the world to him. And like most lovers, he preferred to gratify his love with promising kindness and all his wealth. Justinian’s love for Theodora was so immense that he pleaded against an old Roman law that forbade officials from marrying actresses; just to marry her. They both got married and took control of the Empire as the Emperor and Empress. They soon became a very popular couple. Justinian was a strong and respected leader and Theodora a very beautiful, charismatic and intelligent woman. They ruled privately as joint crowned heads because Justinian allowed Theodora to not only share his throne but also participate in decision making.
King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson
This is perhaps the most amazing and surprising love stories. And it is also believed to be a love story of the century. This true love story is about King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. King Edward was a very handsome man. He had light-colored hair and blue eyes and a boyish look on his face. But he chose to do what royals are not allowed to do. He always wanted to be like everyone else, and so, he fell in love. But he fell in love with an American woman, a twice divorcee. King Edward VIII was so passionately in love with Mrs. Wallis Simpson, that he was willing to give up his throne; and he did. It was in 1931, when they had first met. Lady Furness had hosted a party at her country house, where, in addition to Prince Edward, Mrs. Wallis Simpson and her husband Ernest Simpson were invited. Wallis had a sense of style and poses that made her distinguished and attractive. She had radiant eyes, good complexion and fine, smooth black hair. Edward was infatuated by Mrs. Wallis almost immediately. They married in France in 1937, with no members of the royal family in attendance. And the couple remained in exile from England the rest of their lives. The couple is buried beside one another in the royal burial grounds of Windsor Castle.
Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt
Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne were the two most respected, most popular, most critically acclaimed, and highest-paid stage actors and married couple in the country. They are considered the greatest husband-and-wife team in the history of the American stage. They met, acted together, fell most intensely in love and got married. For 55 years, the Lunts were practically inseparable. And so they only appeared together – as a team. They dazzled Broadway with their sophisticated comedies. They always insisted that they be allowed to act together, rather than in separate plays. As impressive as their individual careers had once been, was nothing compared to their impact together. Apart from their mutual devotion to acting, they always had a reason to recoil, slow down and revitalize. Both of them projected an animal vivacity, strength of joviality and share a passionate joy in being in love. They literally modernized the theatre with originality. No intersecting dialogues, no turning their backs to the audience, passionate physical contact, and a level of truth and realism in everything they did. They retired from the stage in 1960 and spent many happy years enjoying the extraordinary retreat they had created together.
“The best thing, in a way, about our marriage was retirement: after all those years of work, we had a long, marvelously peaceful time in the garden.” – Lynn Fontanne
Abigail and John Adams
Abigail and John had known each other, as third cousins, since their childhood. It was in 1762 that John accompanied his friend Richard Cranch to the Smith household, where Cranch got engaged to John’s sister and John was quickly fascinated to the short, shy, 17-year-old brunette, Abigail. She was forever bent over some book. And John was just surprised to learn about her interest in poetry, philosophy and politics, considered unusual for a woman at the time. Regardless of what his parents thought about this relation, his love for her simply intensified with time. They got married. Abigail turned out to be the most remarkable, admirable, wise Americans of all time. She was also believed to be a better judge of people than John, and was a much more perceptive politician. John too was a thorough activist, a civil servant, a politician, and a husband who greatly needed the advice of his wife Abigail. This was also revealed through his letters. They remained beloved husband and wife for fifty long years. Although they spent much time apart, but their letters to each other were just a magnificent window into their beautiful married life. Despite their common concerns for their country’s future, they were history’s greatest relationships ever.
True love doesn’t have a happy ending because true love doesn’t end.
