“Those that go searching for love, only manifest their own lovelessness. And the loveless never find love, only the loving find love. And they never have to seek for it. - D. H. Lawrence
Many of us have heard the old English adage, "Good things come to those who wait," and several times that phrase is advised to those who are in the hunt for The One. But sometimes true love is the result of happenstance; one stumbles upon love when it is least expected. These are the tales and mystery of circumstances and coincidence that make up the best of love stories.
We begin this story in the late 1940's at Lake Shore Middle School in Jacksonville, Florida where Gene Harvey and Trudy Ralston (nee Foyt) were both attending when he gave her a ride on his bicycle handlebars one afternoon. They were both in the Glee Club; Gene served as the President and Trudy an Officer. The two classmates continued to know each other as teenagers and graduated from Lee High in the class of 1953. Life then carried them on in different paths and they went on to marry their spouses to start their own family's. Both went on to have children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. After many years and decades of married life, Trudy and Gene experienced loss in the passing of their spouses along the way.
It was in 2010 when the sliding doors shifted and opened a conversation between Trudy and Pam Howard, owner of The Village Ladybug, in the Historic Ortega Village. Pam was having a sidewalk sale on Corinthian Avenue when she met Trudy. It was with the realization that Pam was Gene Harvey's daughter, that Trudy kindly asked Pam to tell her father and old classmate hello, for it had been many years since she had seen him. Within a short timeframe, Gene returned to Jacksonville from a vacation in NC and heard about the exchange and called Trudy up to ask her out on a date.
Friendship developed into a romantic relationship, where Gene proposed to Trudy after a two-year courtship while dining at The Florida Yacht Club. Family and close friends joined the couple on October 6, including Gene's children along with their spouses, Pam Howard and Mark Harvey, with Trudy's two sons, Bert and Foyt Ralston with their wives and children.
The Rehearsal Dinner was hosted by Pam and Paul Howard at their home in Confederate Point. Floral arrangements were provided by Gardner's Florist of Ortega. Frazier's Jewelers custom designed both wedding rings from a combination of inherited pieces and family heirlooms. The wedding ceremony took place at Faith Lutheran Church. Reception followed with family and friends at The Florida Yacht Club. The couple honeymooned at The Greystone Inn in NC and will reside at their home in Ortega.
As we hear stories such as the one between Trudy and Gene, both now 76, we are reminded by the apostle Paul's words in Corinthians that love is patient, after all. One can continuously search for love, but never find it. One can find love over and over again throughout one lifetime. But what Mr. Lawrence observed is that if we keep our hearts open by the act of selflessly loving others, we may discover the possibility that love will find its way to us through an old hello.
Trudy Foyt and Gene Harvey (1950)
Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Gene Harvey
Bert and Foyt Ralston with their Mother, Trudy and her new Groom.
