This couple’s remarkable 53-year love journey is heavily influenced by their love letters.
Finding someone who would make a lifelong commitment to you is uncommon.
True love may exist, but not everyone is able to recognize it.
Some people, though, happen to run across the person they were intended to be with forever, and some of them even find their true love while still in their teens!
Actress Ina Garten is one of these lucky few.
The Barefoot Contessa actress is married to her longtime partner Jeffrey, and the two of them are an inspiration to others because of their long-lasting love.
When she was just 15 years old, the 71-year-old actor Jeffrey first encountered the 70-year-old actress.
Ina first saw Jeffrey, who was a student at the same college, in 1963 when visiting her brother at Dartmouth College.
When he saw her on the street, he wrote her a message and put a photo of himself in the envelope, according to Ina.
Ina recalls as if it were yesterday the moment she received Jeffrey’s letter.
The actress remembers her reaction to reading her future husband’s letter at the time.
“Mom, Mom, you’ve got to see this image of this person,” she cried. He’s so adorable!
Their relationship began at that point, and five years later, they got married. It happened in 1968.
In order to serve in the army, Jeffrey was sent to Thailand a year after their wedding.
The only option the couple had at the time was to communicate through letters.
They had to be apart even though their marriage was still in its infancy, but they conquered it. According to Jeffrey, he wrote to his wife every day.
He couldn’t stop thinking about her.
The call was too brief to cover everything the pair wanted to tell one other because they can only speak to each other once a year.
They discovered a means of communication through letters, and it was crucial to their love story.
The two of them were always looking for ways to enjoy each other’s company after Jeffrey returned.
They went on dates and even turned Paris into a second home for themselves.
Every year on their anniversary, they would travel to the city.
Jeffrey, a professor in the School of Management at Yale, used to travel to Connecticut each day to lecture there. While working from their East Hampton, New York, residence, Ina was the opposite.
Only on weekends did they get together.
The couple followed the same schedule for the next 40 years, and each time, Jeffrey would send Ina a heartfelt love note, brightening her day.
The couple had the chance to live together in their house when the pandemic started.
Even though they were spending each day together and enjoying it, Jeffrey continued to write his loving wife letters.
It was something that intensified their love and elevated their tale to the status of “couple goals.”
What a charming love tale, no? After 53 years of marriage, too!
Watch the video below to learn more about the love story of this great couple.
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