Our Love Story

This love story is about John and Louise, who met through fate, as a  result of a tragic accident.

It begins on Saturday, August 29th, 1964, on a particularly hot summer day.  John was in his truck, delivering gas for Supertest when a very strange accident occurred before his eyes.  A car travelling towards him, suddenly burst into flames. He swerved away from the oncoming car, stopped his truck and ran back to see if he could assist in some way. The door was locked so he broke the window and saw that the man was slumped onto the door. Soon others stopped as well.

The police and ambulance arrived shortly thereafter. The ambulance rushed this terribly burnt soul to the nearest hospital which was St.Joseph's Hospital.  It was discovered at the hospital, that the man was Mr. Norman Leslie who had apparently left home in Hamilton, to get some gasoline for his lawn mower.  Why did he travel so far from home, just to get gas? This burnt man died a day or two later.

 Later that day, John inquired at the hospital as to the condition of the burnt man. There was very little information available, so he called back later that evening. I was not at the Information desk that particular weekend when he called, but on Monday September 1st, I was there to answer his queries in regard to the patient's condition. 

The next evening he called again and began asking for information other than strictly business.  He wanted to meet me, so we arranged to meet after my shift.  John was fairly new in town, he had come from Nova Scotia in the spring, and didn't have a car. I had my own car so I agreed to pick him up. Now that I think of it, it was rather risky, but this was the 1960's - not the times of today! We went to a pub nearby, got acquainted and left after giving him my phone number.  Our first official date was the next day, we went to the airshow at the Toronto National Exhibition. I should have known this  was the beginning of a life that involved airplanes!

Well, we courted for a short time and within three weeks we were choosing a diamond ring and setting a wedding date!  John didn't get down on one knee like you see in the movies, but one day he just said, "So how many kids are WE going to have?"  That must have been a proposal!  He did surprise me by picking up the ring from the jewellers and gave it to me that night on October 22nd- no special dinner, no flowers.

The wedding was planned for December 26th, so that his parents could come from Nova Scotia. His mom taught school and would be able to come during the holidays.  As it turned out, there was a snow storm and his parents were unable to attend after all. It turned out he only had two relatives at the wedding, a cousin Ola and her young daughter, Joan. Poor John! Did he wonder what in the world was he getting himself into?