Couples we know and love

In honor of sweethearts everywhere, here are a few magical and memorable couples we know and love.

Ricky and Lucy

Lucy! You got some 'splanin' to do!

This was the famous and familiar battlecry of the often beleaguered Ricky Ricardo to his wife Lucy. No doubt Lucy, the loving and naive housewife, had gotten into trouble again through some crazy hare-brained scheme to join Ricky in show business. Never mind that she could not carry a tune or play any instrument except a saxaphone...and badly!

There are two versions as to how this famous TV couple met. The first has Lucy McGillicuddy at age 22 being set up on a blind date who turned out to be Ricky Ricardo a Cuban conga drummer. An alternate scenario has Lucy and her best friend Susie, played by Ann Southern, taking a cruise to Havana and meeting Ricky in Cuba. Whichever way it really happened, we were lucky enough to follow this fun loving couple from 1951 to 1957 in I Love Lucy. There were 13 I Love Lucy specials that aired from 1957 through 1960.

Romeo and Juliet

My only love sprung from my only hate. Juliet says to her nurse as she discovers the identity of that cute boy at her father's masked ball. Alas, their love is doomed from the start as their families are in the middle of a blood feud. Romeo can no sooner escape being a Montague than Juliet, a Capulet. Star-crossed indeed!

I suppose the reason I identify with the Franco Zefferalli film version of Romeo and Juliet is because it was the first time the teenage characters were actually portrayed by teenagers, Olivia Hussey (15) and Leonard Whiting (17). There I was, a young teen, on a school field trip to the Cinerama Theater on South King Street in Honolulu sitting a little too close to the screen (our bus was late) and experiencing Shakespeare in all its glory. I was entranced and swept away to long ago Verona and a tragic story of forbidden love. Ah, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the sun and Juliet is the east. Help, I'm melting!

Oliver and Jenny

What can you say about a twenty-five year old girl who died? That she was beautiful and brilliant. That she loved Mozart and Bach. The Beatles. And me. Love Story is ranked #9 on the list of most romantic movies of all time by the American Film Institute.

This is the story of Oliver Barrett IV (the preppy) and Jennifer Cavilleri (working class girl). Two kids each from the opposite side of the tracks who manage to find each other, and fall madly and deeply in love. Unfortunately, their time together turns out to be all too brief when after deciding to have a child, and not achieving the desired results, they consult a specialist. It is discovered that Jenny is tragically ill with only a short time to live. Eventually, with Jenny seriously ill in the hospital, she asks Oliver to hold her tightly before she dies. I ask you, was there a dry eye in the house when Oliver climbed into the hospital bed with her? Love, obviously, means never having to say you're sorry.

Roy & Dale

The King of the Cowboys and The Queen of the West kept many a kid glued to their old black and white TV set topped with rabbit ears. I should know, I was one of them! The show was set in the fictional town of Mineral City featuring ranch owner Roy Rogers, and Dale Evans as proprietress of the Eureka Café. They were surrounded by sidekicks including those of the animal variety namely Roy’s beautiful Palomino, Trigger and Bullet the wonder dog. There was also a wayward Jeep named Nellybelle who seemed to have a mind of her own. Each week they gave us standards to live by and taught us the difference between right and wrong.

But the real story here is of Roy and Dale’s deep abiding love for each other and their family. The couple, married for 51 years, had a large family including children from previous marriages, a child of their own, and four adopted children. Roy and Dale met in 1944 on a movie set, The Cowboy and the Senorita, and later married on New Year’s Eve 1947. Did you know Dale wrote their signature song Happy Trails? Roy passed away in 1998 and Dale in 2001 but not before becoming a treasured part of the American landscape.

A tribute to Valentine's Day would not be complete without this lovely poem written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning in 1845 while being courted by her future husband, Robert Browning.

How Do I Love Thee?

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!