Warren had traced the Mizener family's journey from Europe to the United States and then into Quebec and Ontario.  Ontario is where this love story took place.  When I was young I had the opportunity to read a photocopy of the diary where this story was told.  I remember the story as I have always thought it was very touching however memory fails as to the exact names and date of the event.

It was in the early 1900 hundreds as I recall when two young people fell in love with each other.  During this period in history many men earned their living farming, as did the young man in this story.  Unfortunately he had been injured years earlier and he walked with a pronounced limp.  One must remember that farming at that time was not done by machines as most of it is today.  Plowing required that the farmer walk behind a horse, oxen or mule.  Many other routine tasks on the farm were also physically taxing.  Farming has been said to be a good life but a hard life and this was even more the case at the turn of the twentieth century. 

The father of the young woman, who was also a farmer worried as be became aware of the developing closeness between his daughter and the young man who walked with a limp.  He voiced his objection to their continued relationship when it appeared they were becoming seriously involved.  The father was concerned that this young man would not be able to provide for his daughter due to the injury he had sustained.  It was a genuine worry, as he knew all too well how much strength it took to run a farm. 

Although the young couple knew the father's objections to them seeing each other they continued to meet in secret.  Finally they were resolved to elope, as they knew they were never to receive the father's blessing.

The woman sewed in private the gown she planned to wear at her wedding.   The young people took great efforts to keep the wedding plans a secret.  It was their hopes that once they were married that the woman's father would finally accept the marriage. 

Eventually the day arrived that the young couple had planned to elope.  It was a night where moonlight lit the gravel roads.  The young man drove as close as he could to the young woman's home trying not to alert others in the house that he was outside.  He stayed in the buggy keeping his horse silent until the agreed upon time for his bride to meet him.  She had secretly left the house and was carrying her wedding dress on her arm, which, she planned to wear for the wedding.

The couple drove off  but it was only a short time before the young girl was discovered missing and her intent to be married was revealed.  Her father harnessed his own horse and buggy and began to pursue them on the moonlit road.  

Soon the young couple became aware that they were being chased and they immediately had their horse galloping down the road.  The pursuit carried on for several miles but the young couple maintained their lead.  When the father finally caught up with them the young couple's horse and buggy was outside the church.  The father immediately burst through the doors and to his disappointment he saw his daughter standing at the alter with her new husband.   

The young couple had reached the church in time to have the minister hastily perform the marriage ceremony.  The new bride stood before the minister and repeated her vows with her wedding dress over her arm, as she had not had the opportunity to change.

The diary did not go on to say the outcome of the marriage.  I have always thought that there was nothing reported that indicated that all did not work out well for the young married couple and have chosen to believe this was the case.

Many of your family had long marriages that survived the bad times and thrived in the good.  Your great great grandparents, Byron and Ethel Mizener were married for sixty-eight years.  Great Great Grandma Mizener was sixteen when she was married.  Throughout their marriage they worked on the farm and raised fantastic vegetable and flower gardens.

Your great grandparents Warren Roscoe and Stella Ruth Mizener nearly achieved their fifty-third anniversary before great grandpa’s heart finally gave out.  They worked together for many years at Clairol and it seemed that their bond only grew closer as their years of working and living together past.  There are others as well that have had long marriages and whose love for each other sustained them though the years.

My hope is that you find a sustaining love.  I wish for you the kind of love that gives you the desire to greet each day with joyful anticipation.  May you have the kind of love that is strong and enduring, which grows with your relationship.  

                                Cheryl C. Helynck

                                            2003