The Notebook, a movie about a couple who take their time finding their way back to one another, already has an emotional twist ― we learn that the tale of their love is being told to one-half of the couple who’s since developed dementia.
Well, I hope you’re hydrated because the MTV Movie Best Kiss winner of 2005 has more tears to extract from us.
The book on which the movie was based was written by Nicholas Sparks. And on his website, he revealed that the novel was, at least in part, an homage to his then-wife’s grandparents.
He shared the information on his website
Sparks revealed in a site entry about the book that it “wasn’t easy” to come up with the idea for the novel ― in the end, “The Notebook was inspired by my wife’s grandparents, two wonderful people who spent over 60 years together.”
His then-wife was close to her grandparents, having gone to see them at least once a month ever since she first got her driver’s licence.
Unfortunately, the day before her wedding to Sparks, his then-fiancee found out that her parents were too ill to attend the wedding, he says.
His wife did her level best to keep her sadness at the back of her mind throughout the day but was upset by seeing her grandparents’ unworn flowers in a box of corsages and boutonnieres for the wedding party.
Then, they arranged something special
The morning after the wedding, Sparks says his then-newlywed wife asked him to put on his tuxedo.
She wore her wedding dress, grabbed the unused flowers, and went to visit their grandparents with some cake and a video of the big day.
After taking a couple of photos, “we went inside and watched the video as we ate a slice of cake, and it was then they told us the story of how they met and fell in love, parts of which eventually made their way into The Notebook,” Sparks added.
“But though their story was wonderful, what I most remember from that day is the way they were treating each other,” he added. “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,” he ended.
Anyone got a hankie?