Shared by Florence and Ken Falter
In the January/February issue of Village Life magazine, in celebration of Valentines Day, we asked our residents to share with us their stories of finding their true love. I hope you enjoy reading about these special couples as much as we did! Click here to read more from our residents.
She was from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. He was from Brooklyn, New York.
In 1961, she was working for the Prudential Insurance Company in Boston. And he was working for the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company.
She lived in Brighton, a section of Boston, and rode the MTA Commonwealth Avenue trolley line to work each morning. She usually met a friend on the trolley. He lived in Brighton and he and his roommate rode the MTA Commonwealth Avenue trolley line to work each morning. They all got off at the Berkeley Street Station.
After eyeing each other for some time, he made his move. He approached her and her friend and tried to start a conversation. Her friend was very witchy and would not let him break in. Needless to say, he was miffed.
The next morning, a Friday, she separated from her friend on the station, going up another exit stairway. He said goodbye to his roommate and followed her up the stairs. At street level, she was gazing into a store window; a store window of Shreve, Crump & Low, one of the more expensive jewelry stores in Boston. Undaunted, he struck up a conversation with her and they began dating.
Their first date was to Fenway Park to watch a Yankees-Red Sox game. Guess who each of them rooted for. We don’t remember who won the game, but we feel that we both won.
Two months later, he had to relocate to the Washington, DC area to join the US Public Health Service Commissioned Officer Corps.
As their relationship had turned serious, he would drive up to Boston every other weekend to see her. He did find a buddy to share the driving with him.
After three and a half months of this, he proposed that they move up their planned June wedding date to mid-February as the commuting was becoming too much.
They were married on February 17, 1962 in Boston, and initially lived in Bethesda, Maryland. That’s just about 59 years ago.
Is it any wonder that the Kingston Trio’s recording of “Let’s Get Charlie Off the MTA” is our song?