This book shares 40 inspiring stories of couples who have dedicated themselves to making their marriage thrive right here in Northeast Ohio.
Each is a real-life romance. They may not all read like a Harlequin novel, but they deliver a message far stronger because they’re real stories of real people, just like us, who have dealt with and overcome many of the same challenges, issues, and plain old-fashioned problems all couples face.
Some are powerful. Some are simple. Each is a touching look at a pair of people who have found their own way to build a life together.
These 40 couples are young and old, black and white, professional and blue collar. They have many kinds of marriages—high-school sweethearts, professional partnerships, surprise romances, and even re-marriages. They have based relationships carefully on centuries-old tradition, and they have boldly broken boundaries. Their very variety reflects the melting pot of their chosen hometown.
Some are people just like your friends and neighbors; you might meet them on any given day in any home in Northeast Ohio.
Some are local celebrities, like TV8 anchor Wilma Smith and her husband, Tom Gerber; former Indian’s manager Mike Hargrove and his wife, Sharon; and Cleveland mayor Jane Campbell and her husband, Hunter Morrison.
And some are ordinary people coping with extraordinary situations, like Crystal and Steve Dzurnak, who battled cancer together; and Mary Lou and Jim Beers, whom paralysis could not stop.
These stories are like 40 small gifts. They can help any couple rediscover the values that make their own relationship so meaningful. They offer a glimpse into successful marriages that shine with the transformative power of deep personal commitment.
