BOURNEMOUTH’S BEST LOVE STORY – THE SHORTLIST!

08.02.2019

Thank you to everyone who has entered our Valentine's Day competition to help us find Bournemouth's Best Love Story, we can feel the love in the air! We have shortlisted 4 stories instead of 3 because we just couldn't decide over so many great love stories.  Here are our 4 shortlisted stories, please comment on our pinned Facebook post using the Story number to show which story you would like to win a date night at Bh2 worth £150!

Love Story 1: From Sylvia Larrad: "1972......I managed a local record shop called Spin a Disc. Lunchtime a young man I had been out on a few dates with came into the shop. This took me by surprise as he worked in a local garage, a 15min. drive away & I knew he only usually had a 30min lunch break. Anyway I served him with the record he requested ......which was at the time number 5 in the hit parade. He paid for the 45 inch record, I put it in the bright yellow paper bag & passed it over the counter to him. He immediately took the disc out of the paper bag & gave it back to me......saying “this says it all” ........the disc was in fact Stevie Wonder  “You are the sunshine of my life.” That my friends is our love story......we have been married 47yrs this November."

Love Story 2: From Charlotte Doe " I moved to Bournemouth a few years ago with my ex-partner and although it didn’t work out I fell in love with the town and decided to settle down here. Last year I started a new job and not knowing anyone I made a real effort to socialise, leading to my new team practically begging me to join them one Friday night in town. Not normally my scene and I had not been ‘Out out’ in Bournemouth for a good few years, however with nothing on the cards I decided to head out with my new work friends... little did I know what was to come. After a few cocktails and a lot of drunk dancing at Vodka Revolutions, I somehow managed to tear my ripped jeans in half down one leg, leading to me trying to convince every bouncer and bar man to lend me a pair of scissors so I could fashion myself some new shorts. (Unfortunately no one wanted to give a drunk girl a pair of scissors). Standing outside Vodka Revolutions trying to convince the bouncer I needed some scissors I bumped into Karl who was here celebrating a friends stag do (He rarely goes out too which makes our chance meeting even more strange!) and he assured me he would save my evening! He ended up tucking my ripped jeans in and escorting me through town to my car so I could grab some more clothes. From here we carried on partying the night away and ended drinking beers on the beach as the sun came up! Despite the fact he lives 150 miles away in Maidstone he continued to come down to Bournemouth and take me on dates, we explored Koh Thai (he told me recently he doesn’t even like spicy food haha!) and walked down the pier. Fast forward 6 Months and we’ve been on plenty of crazy adventures together, spending time travelling across France and Andorra this summer and meeting each others families. We have just made plans to travel across Europe this summer and I couldn’t be happier that we met by chance in Bournemouth"

Love Story 3: From Kate Williams "I had taken to online dating since I found myself single following the birth of my son. I was looking for men as that seemed the 'normal' thing to do following a child, despite me dating women previously. MY two best friends kept telling me the reason I couldn't settle down with any guy was because I was looking for the wrong gender. So, one day out of curiosity, I searched on POF for women. I saw one girl who was really pretty and checked out her profile but I didn't have the courage to message her.

Within 24 hours, she messaged me! I was completely shocked but also pleased at the same time. She told me she had a busy few weeks coming up as she was having surgery on her wrist, but we arranged a casual drink during Bournemouth Pride on the 5th July and we met in the afternoon for a slush puppy and a chat.
During our chat we discovered that not only did the two of us have the same birthday, but my son was also born on my birthday.... all 3 of us have the same birthday! We then messaged constantly after that first meeting, and suddenly all her plans were cancelled and we saw each other every day for a week. I asked her to be my girlfriend and thankfully she said yes.
The next few weeks were then sent to test us and our relationship.She had her surgery as planned and her recovery was more painful than anticipated. She needed metal pins put into her wrist and ligaments moved. I saw her nearly every day, cooking for her, taking her to appointments and follow ups etc. Then 6 weeks after her first operation she messaged me saying she wasn't feeling well at all and wanted me to take her to A&E. We went there first thing in the morning, and she was admitted to intensive care. She had developed sepsis in her wrist and without urgent medical attention, she was at risk of losing her arm, or worse. Over the next week, they operated 3 more times to clear out the infection. I visited her every day in hospital, whilst also looking after my son who was 3 at the time and working. I spent atleast 2 hours with her every day, trying to distract her from the pain and stop her feeling alone. She missed my 30th birthday party as she was still in hospital, it was heart breaking leaving her that day and going to celebrate with my friends and family. I didn't feel much like celebrating.
When she got discharged, we had to go back to hospital every day for 2 hours for the next 14 days for IV antibiotics. I took her to every appointment, changing plans and juggling work to ensure she never went to an appointment on her own. She never once complained,we were both just thankful that she was still in one piece.
The first 3 months of our relationship were sent to test us, but we made it through and on the 22nd December 2017, I proposed. I had her a bauble made for the Christmas tree which said 'Will you marry me?' and once she had finished skipping around the lounge, she said yes!
We didn't want a typical big white wedding due to family relationships and the cost. So we spent hours trawling the internet for elopement weddings and came across the Tree Top Escape in Devon. The date was easy to choose.... Saturday 8th September 2018. The day of all 3 of our birthdays! The three of us went to Devon for a long weekend and got married with no one else there. Just the three of us, the wedding coordinator and her friend as our witnesses and the registrars. We wouldn't have done it any other way!
We have now been married for a few months. We have our arguments, like all married couples. But our first few months together were the biggest test we could have faced and it brought us closer together and showed we can get through anything together.
Our next test is fertility treatment, so we can turn our family of 3 into a family of 4. But I know we will face the journey together. "

Love Story 4: From Stefanie Lake "Darrell and I have been together 9 years in May married 6

We have three children aged 6, 4 and 3 and sadly we have lost two in our journey together
We met in Oct 2009 at Upton community centre as we were both involved in the pantomime - Darrell was backstage doing lighting etc and I..... well I was on stage dressed as a man.
The "stage" (ahem) was set and our friends had decided the wrap party would be the perfect excuse to get us together however it was not meant to be as one of the cast accidentally knocked Darrell off the stage and he had to rush off to hospital with a broken leg.
We stayed in touch via Facebook and met for a spontaneous lunchtime drink in May 2010 we spent the day together playing pool and just talking then went to the pub for a drink in the evening.... Darrell saw a friend of his who asked "have you kissed  her yet?" I laughed at this as I knew by then he was not into public displays of affection.... with that he pushed me up in front of the bar in front of a lot of people and kissed me there and then. After a chat in the local park he asked me to "be his girlfriend" to which of course I said yes....
Fast forward 9 years and here we are - as you can imagine we don't get a lot of us time with our three little cuties so we would love to spend some time together at the fab Bh2 and maybe even relive some of the memories of that first date"
Thanks for the chance guys keep up the good work

Thanks again to everyone who entered! We feel privileged that you chose to share your beautiful stories with us. Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us here at Bh2!

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