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There's A True Story Behind "The Notebook" And It'll Melt Your Heart
We all have seen the heart-wrenching masterpiece that is The Notebook. It's a story set across decades that proves that love remains firmly rooted in the hearts of those that never let go of the ones that they truly care for.
We all wish we had lived out the romantic lives of Noah and Allie, but as it turns out, the story itself is based on two lovebirds very near and dear to the author, Nicholas Sparks.
The plot of steadfast love was based on the author's grandparents-in-law, when he saw how doting they still were to one another after 60 years of marriage, and hoped that him and his newlywed wife would have the same resolve in their later years.
Many of the book's details were based on aspects of their lives together, but Sparks says that it was one moment in particular that convinced him to base the story on these extraordinary people.
And, of course, it happened at a wedding.
Not just any wedding either, but at his own, technically.
Sparks said that his wife was particularly close with her grandparents growing up, to the point of driving hours to reach them several times a month during college.
When they were married, health problems kept them both from the wedding party, and in the morning, the Sparks found out just how dedicated his new wife was to her family.
"When I woke the next morning, my wife rolled over and met my eyes, looking just about as beautiful as I’d ever seen a woman look," he said.
"'Do you love me?' she asked. 'Of course I do,' I whispered, wondering why she asked. 'Well good,' she said, clapping her hands and speaking in an authoritarian tone. 'Then you’re going do something for me.' 'Yes ma’am,' I said."
They drove down together to spend the day with them. Apparently, they were overjoyed, and got dressed into their best clothes, sat together and watched the wedding video, eating leftover wedding cake.
Sparks said he was particularly struck by their demeanor to one another.
He said "I remember watching them together and thinking to myself that after sixty years of marriage, these two people were treating each other exactly the same as my wife and I were treating each other after twelve hours. What a wonderful gift they’d given us, I thought, to show us on our first day of marriage that true love can last forever."