Louise and Eddie: Love Remembered After 55 years

Louise and Eddie are married, April 12, 2014

Louise and Eddie had been friends in the mid 50’s.  Even though they were married to other people, they still remembered each other fondly through the years and thought about what might have been.

In the mid-1950’s Louise and her husband, Don, and Eddie and his wife, Phyllis, were young couples just starting out in life with children and creating homes on Whidbey Island.  They lived less than two miles apart in Coupeville, and all four were close friends.

In 1957, Eddie and Phyllis moved away and lived many different places before settling in Seattle.  Louise and Don continued to live in Coupeville on Whidbey Island.

Eddie and Phyllis were a very loving and happy couple.  As they got older, they shared the idea that if either one died, the surviving spouse was encouraged to find someone else.  Eddie’s wife died unexpectedly in January 2013, and he realized how lonely he would be on his own. 

Then he remembered Louise; actually she had been in his memory for the 55 years they had been apart.

Eddie decided to see if she was still on Whidbey, and he came for a visit to the island to search for her.  The first place he asked, he couldn’t find any information.  Then, he stopped in at the Lavender Wind shop in Downtown Coupeville and asked if the person knew Louise……and got an immediate “Yes” and a phone number.

Eddie called, and when Louise answered he boomed out, “This is Eddie!”  Her first response was “Eddie who?”  But, then as they talked, she realized this was the person she had been attracted to 55 years earlier.  Louise had been widowed in 2006, and she too was feeling lonely.

It was the Loganberry Festival weekend in Greenbank, and Louise invited Eddie to come for dinner with her and her sister, spend the night in the boarding house she owned and go with her to the festival.  They spent the next day together at the festival, and she invited Eddie to spend another night and get reacquainted….which didn’t take much persuasion.

He returned to Seattle the next day and began thinking about how the two of them could get together again.  A few weeks later, Louise, who didn’t like to travel by herself, called Eddie and asked him if he would be willing to accompany her on a trip to Northern California for a family reunion.  He agreed, and on the trip as they talked more and more, Louise realized, “We were blown away by how much we agreed upon.”

Neither of them can remember what persuaded Eddie to give up his apartment in Seattle and move to Coupeville and live in Louise’s boarding house, but the move was made in October 2013.  And on December 13, 2013 (which was also Friday the 13^th; the official date was 13-13), Eddie proposed.  And, with each being 84 years of age, they decided to have a full, formal wedding for all of their friends and family at the Captain’s Inn in Coupeville on April 12, 2014.

Louise had been planning to sell her over 3,500 square foot house when Eddie came back into the picture.  He quickly won her over when he suggested, “How about taking down your ‘For sale’ sign, and I’ll help you keep up the property.”  She adds, “In our 20’s we knew there was something special between us, but we couldn’t talk about it.”  But, she continued, “As soon as we were together again, we renewed the love we had felt for each other so many years ago.”

From Eddie’s perspective is the same: “I knew there was something special there in the beginning.  When we reconnected, we knew how much we enjoyed being together.”

Between the two of them, they have 10 children, 18 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.  Four of Louise’s six children live on Whidbey Island, one is in Marysville and one lives in Kelso.  Two of Eddie’s four children live in the Seattle area, one is in Portland and one in Wallawa, Oregon.  Family members are happy about the pending wedding.

Being in their presence, the term “love bugs” immediately comes to mind.  They intend to stay on Whidbey, but sell the large house and move to a smaller, more manageable one.  They don’t know if they’ll be together for another 5, 10 or 20 years.  They do know they are with the person they will stay with for the rest of their lives. 

They know they love each other and are enjoying each of the moments they share together now.

Note: You can read about Louise's business as Madrona Massage on Whidbey Local