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Love is a tricky, abstract concept to define. There are no rules to it. Being in love is like the most twisting and turning rollercoaster you’ve ever been on as it throws you in so many different directions at the same time. What’s certain about love is that feeling in the chest that you simply can’t be without that person. You want to spend every moment you can with them. That’s just how Fred Gilland feels about his wife Janice - even though she died in 2010.
Fred visited his wife’s grave in Tennessee every single day between her burial and 2017. He has said quite simply that he loved her from the first moment he saw her and that there is nothing else he would rather do until the time comes when he is buried in the same plot.
He said he’s doing this because of a promise he made to Janice - which is, at heart, what love is all about. It’s about making those vows to honor your spouse and then doing just that. Fred’s determination to spend all the time he can with Janice is his representation of his marriage vows made flesh. Since meeting when Fred was 17-years-old, they barely spent a night apart. Now thanks to Fred’s devotion, they continue to be together in such an inspiring tale of how there is truly one person for each of us out there somewhere.
True love may not yet have appeared in our lives. Our parents perhaps divorced or were never really together in the first place, or we may have gone through the pain of divorce too. But Fred’s story should act as a fairy tale for all of us. It shows us that love exists and that no matter how hard you might have to work at it, the rewards for the hard times which we all go through are incredible. Fred Gillibrand and your unstinting love for your wife and best friend Janice, we salute you with all our admiration.
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The Greatest Proposal Location of All Time
A proposal of marriage is one of the great moments in life. It’s also something we don’t ever want to do again. It’s a declaration of love that feels so right and so pure, that we’re certain the other person will react positively to it and with the best possible outcome.
So, it’s a bit of an understatement to say that timing and location are everything when it comes to making this one, life-changing request. It’s the start of the two of you making your life together official and it’s the story you’ll remember forever. Romance is everything, here. The Wal-Mart parking lot is not a place for memories that will last a lifetime. Dale Sharp is a landscape photographer and he understood this, as he combined his job and his love for his partner, Karlie Russell.
Dale knew that Karlie was the woman he wanted to be with forever, so he set about planning his proposal. Travel was a big part of the couple’s lifestyle and he thought that on one of their adventures to the Arctic Circle, the aurora borealis - commonly known as the Northern Lights - would provide the perfect, beautiful backdrop.
Unfortunately, his first attempt at planning the big moment had to be abandoned. Karlie accidentally threw away the $4,000 ring he was going to present her as part of a luggage-lightening procedure at the airport!
Two years later, he tried again. On a trip to celebrate their seventh anniversary of being together, Dale maneuvered Karlie into position underneath the gorgeous cosmic light show under the pretense of taking a selfie of them both. He then got down on one knee and popped the question.
The results speak for themselves. It’s such a special moment in their relationship and one that lives forever in a frame on the walls of their home.
