Danny & Annie

So I was looking through my Facebook news feed like normal and stumbled across a link someone posted that jumped out at me.  Curiosity got the best of me, and I decided to check it out.  I was so pleasantly surprised that I want to blog about this and share it, hoping that maybe someone will see it and watch it as well.  The story just warms my heart, for lack of a better phrase, and I think it would be hard for an individual not to feel something after hearing their story.  It's simply beautiful.

Danny & Annie  http://storycorps.org/animation/ 

After finishing the video, my first thought was "if there's anything in this world that I want, that's it."  A love that lasts til death do us part and thereafter. It brings back the simple desire of wanting someone to grow old with, someone who will love and care about you even when you're old and gray. In some ways, their love reminds me of The Notebook, but it's much more touching to me because it's not some romanticized work of fiction that came out of someone's imagination - it's real.

There are so many things that touched my heart in their story to list: how he calls her every April 22nd at 3:00 pm to ask if she would still do it all again, the fact that he leaves a little love letter/romantic weather report for her every day, how he cares more about her being ok once he's gone than worrying about his own health...

My favorite lines: 

"Being married is like having a color television set, you never want to go back to black & white."

"You walk in with me, you walk out with me."

"I want to come to terms with being sure that you understand that my love for you up to this point was as much here as it could be and will be as much as it can be for eternity. I always said the only thing I have to give to you is a poor gift, and that's myself. And I always gave it. And if there's a way to come back and give it, I'll do that too."

"I could write on and on about her....those aren't very romantic things to say, but they stir my heart.  In my mind, in my heart, there has never been, there is not now and never will be another Annie."

I wish I was articulate enough to be able to describe how amazing this story is and how much it meant to me to hear it.  I guess what I can say is that I loved the pure and simple honesty in their voices - you could hear/feel how much they loved each other and while Danny did maybe these cliche romantic things for Annie that you might see in a romantic comedy or chicklit book - it was still special because it was their story - him showing how much he loved her in his own way. 

Bottom line: Thank you StoryCorps for sharing and creating some beautiful animation to accompany a remarkable story.

Sweet dreams.