AValentineStory(originalversionbyDougBell).docVIP

A Valentine Story? Doug Bell John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didnt, the girl with the rose. His interest in her had begun twelve months before in a Florida library. Taking a book off the shelf he soon found himself absorbed, not by the words of the book, but by the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind. In the front of the book, he discovered the previous owner s name, Miss Hollis Meynell. With time and effort he located her address. She lived in New York City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond. The next day he was shipped overseas for service in World War II. During the next year the two grew to know each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart. A romance was budding. Blanchard requested a photograph, but she refused. She explained: If your feeling for me has any reality, any honest basis, what I look like wont matter. Suppose I m beautiful. I d always be haunted by the feeling that you had been taking a chance on just that, and that kind of love would disgust me. Suppose I m plain and you must admit that this is more likely . Then I d always fear that you were going on writing to me only because you were lonely and had no one else. No, dont ask for my picture. When you come to New York, you shall see me and then you shall make your decision. Remember, both of us are free to stop or to go on after that—whichever we choose … When the day finally came for him to return from Europe, they scheduled their first meeting—7: 00 p.m. at Grand Central Station, New York. “Youll recognize me,” she wrote, “by the red rose Ill be wearing on my lapel.” So, at 7: 00 p.m. he was in the station looking for a girl who had filled such a special place in his life for the pa