People love to write about romances, weddings, and anniversaries in their memoirs or family history books. Of course, it isn’t always rosy. Of course, love doesn’t always end up the way we want or expect. Sometimes the unexpected and unrequited love stories are as memorable as the more predictable or known stories.

The Star Boarder (pictured above) was written with great love and no small effort. The author was never given the opportunity to go to school as a youth but eventually taught herself to read and write. In the early 1900s, she came from Ireland to the U.S. as a newlywed and built her life here—“a hard life lived graciously,” in the words of her daughter. Shortly after she died, in her late eighties, a composition book was discovered in a dresser drawer, a small book filled with her memories. These notes were subsequently re-typed by her daughter and made into a book.

Below are the opening lines, in which the author recounts her father’s first love. It says so much in so few words. (Note: Author’s “voice” is preserved in the text.)



My father was a very nice man. … He was 22 years old. He was to get married to a beautiful girl, a blond. Everyone was getting ready now. Now the day arrived, Sunday, July 1. The church is ready and it’s Saturday night. They had their last date, talking about everything they were going to do. They were going home now to get ready for the morn. They will be married at 10 o’clock Mass. What a happy man he was. Good night, Mary. I will see you at church tomorrow. He had blond hair, blue eyes and always neat and dressed. Well tomorrow came. Mass was near finished. It’s time to walk the altar rails, but Mary did not show up. She left during the nite and went to Dublin. My father waited. Maybe she can’t make it. He waited, but no Mary came.

He left the church, talked to no one, walked straight ahead. He found himself at the docks. Three or four ships was there waiting for help. My father, tears in his eyes, asked one man if he would give him work, and he said go across the street. The office is there. He got a job. He asked where the ship is going. I want a long journey. The middle ship is going to South America. Won’t be back for nine months. That’s the one I want. So he went on board. She left thirty minutes later, and that was it. He was on his way….

February Question:

Is there a surprising or lesser known love story in your family history?



Staff responses

Megan St. Marie: My maternal grandparents met in the 1940s at a roller rink. My grandfather, a novice skater, fell on the floor right in front of my grandmother. “And that’s how she picked me up,” he'd say with a wink when telling that story.

Sean St. Marie: Megan and I met in 2013 the old-fashioned way: through an honest-to-goodness matchmaker.

Ali de Groot: I was engaged in my mid-20s and we postponed the wedding date 3 times over 2 years before calling the whole thing off (fortunately).

Liz Sonnenberg: My mom and dad met when they were in high school band class together. Dad was a senior, Mom was a sophomore, and he asked if he could give her a ride home. What’s surprising is that this was a long, long time ago—and they are still together! Last year, they celebrated 60 years of marriage.

Nicole Miller: It was love at first sight for my grandfather, who was immediately drawn to my grandmother’s beautiful, long hair. She often wore it in elaborate, intricate updos. He would later come to find out she used a “hair switch,” which was a false extension popular in the 1920s.