Customer Reviews

You Caught Me Kissing: A Love Story

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What impressed me most about this book was how open Dorothy was in sharing her amazing life long love with Lloyd through poetry and photos, so that we can all smile while being given a glimpse at what a great love is. I appreciate her honesty in telling us that it wasn't always easy, but it was always worthwhile. Thank you Dorothy for such an enjoyable, personal book.

This gem of a book is such an inspiration. It contains many lessons - that true love is worth waiting for and that everlasting love is the best kind. Too many negative influences today make people quick to judge, quick to give up, and always striving to out-do.

That is why this book is so wonderful. It is like a candle in the darkness - taking the concept of love and of Valentines Day then showing the progress made by true love. Whether times were up or down, their love endured.

I challenge anyone to read the very first poem "Moon Signs" and to not have a tear. Even if a first love did not work out (like it happens for most everybody), this poem brings back those memories of when one first feels the pull of love.

Even though for most lovers, heartache comes first, then the true love ("the one") come along, these story-poems are worth reading because it makes one realize that the true love can be the one that lasts - and that it is worth it.

This book is wonderful. Truly a treasure.

Valerie Atkinson Brown
Author, International Thomson Publishing

To Dorothy, finding a balance for love wasn't easy. She and Lloyd Bridges, with whom she was together for 60 years, had to find space for themselves, with Lloyd's acting career and her determination to be a good mother and housewife, even if it meant having to tamp down her natural creative inclinations. But she had time for her poetry, and every year from the 1930s till the 1990s (and even today) she wrote out a valentine poem for her husband. (There are some touching little valentines on display from Lloyd to Dorothy, but the bulk of the book is her collection of her annual poems from then to now.)

Even after he died she found herself continuing the tradition, and some of the best poems in the book demonstrate her helplessness and the indignity of loss. They are heartbreaking. Heartbreaking too were some of the losses which she frankly describes in this memoir.

Such as the way HUAC came down hard on Lloyd Bridges, forcing him into a graylist until SEA HUNT came about and the whole US public got behind it, effectively telling Senator McCarthy, we don't care about your anti-Communist crusade! Sad too, indescribably so, was the crib death of another of Dorothy's little boys. And she mentions in passing that in fact Lloyd wasn't a perfect husband and that there were occasional affair-ettes on the side (on his part not hers). But all in all it was a reasonable successful alliance by any standard, and many of the valentines attest that one way of measuring success is that the children of the marriage feel loved.

All the surviving children seem very content and very aware that they grew up in a very loving family.

After looking at some old Sea Hunt episodes on TV.com, I started to reminisce about the first time I saw these shows (at age 13). In one of the episodes "The Lost Ones", Mr. Bridges' wife and son, Jeff, starred along with him. So I started googling Mr. Bridges' life and found that Dorothy Bridges (his wife) was a poet. And so, I purchased "You Caught Me Kissing: A Love Story. This book is one of the most passionate and real love stories I've read. They met in the 1930's, fell deeply in love, and it all started with an unsigned Valentine card from Lloyd "Bud" to his Dorothy. She knew who sent it, and from that day forward, she wrote a Valentine to him every year until her death in 2009. Each poem tells a story about their life and love, through the years, and it's never ending strength that would not break under any circumstance. As you read her poems, you get caught up in their strength as love remains but changes over the years. Their foundation was so strong, it carried them through. Anyone who has been married for a long time, in a relationship, or in love will identify with this beautiful book. I cried by the end of the book because it brought out what lives in my heart, and keep it at my bedside to read now and then. The photos of their life and children are very special. Some of the poems are still in old type form or hand written. What a special family. What a special woman. You won't be dissappointed in this book.

I bought, "You Caught Me Kissing: A Love Story"
by Dorothy Bridges, for my wife as a Christmas present... She loves the book! It's well written, funny, and romantic! Great for anyone who likes Biographies or Personal-Interest type books. She has already read it several times!

I have the pleasure of knowing the author, Dorothy Bridges. I knew her years ago when she and Lloyd had a home in Bear Valley, Ca. I waitied on them often at the grocery store where I was a checker. They held hands as they shopped. They are and were a love story, this book is very touching.

She and I loved to chat so she always came through my line at the store. She was the star in my eyes, I feel honored to know this awesome mother and wife...she raised stars, literally! Dorothy if you ever read this, hello from Jude from Applewood Market! I now live in Oregon on the coast and it was a pleasure reading your book!
:)

Readers who believe they are going to read a biography written by Lloyd Bridges' wife might be disappointed. This book is a collection of beautifully composed poetry written by the author of love "songs" to her husband over many years. As I could only read the poetry one or two book chapters at a time, as it is very sentimental, what a great way to start the day with a cup of coffee in one hand and a fist-full of love in the other. No deep plots here, no brain-teasers; just a thank you to Mrs. Bridges for sharing her love story with us.

sweet and sentimental, filled with lovely photos of the bridges family. nice gift book for valentine's day

I once read this poem which described what true love looks like in one stanza:

Love me, sweet, with all thou art, Feeling, thinking, seeing--- Love me in the lightest part, Love me in full being.