MARCH 5 — She had the Valentine of a lifetime. For 35 years she and her valentine lived a life of wedded bliss and happiness until tragedy struck and her valentine passed away. Recently, she entered a writing contest and won.
“I was in Buffalo Wild Wings and saw there was a contest and I thought that I could enter that,” said Gwendolyn Williams. “I wrote the love story between me and my husband. I was with him for 35 years. I wrote from my heart and I won the contest. I won a gift certificate from Buffalo Wild Wings and two movie passes from the Morehead Cinemas. The two businesses have joined together to present this contest.”
She said her story exemplified what Valentine’s Day means and that her winning the contest was a special gift to her.
“I found out that I won the prize on Feb. 13,”she said. “I am very happy with the prize but the main thing is what it stood for which is what real love is. An attraction can cause you to have a mutual feeling for each other but it takes loyalty, dedication and giving and time to build a deep true love relationship.”
Like most couples, Williams and her husband had their ups and their downs.
“I went through an accident and he went through lung cancer,” she said. “We were there for each other through it all.”
Williams said her love story began when she was 15 years old and her husband Reed Jr. was 16. He offered to share his seat with her on the school bus.
“As time went on, he began to save me a seat and then one day we shared a big red sucker,” she said. “That was the beginning. We saw each other wherever and whenever we could.”
She said his father was the county sheriff at the time and he also worked to haul vending machines with his father. Reed and his father were at the courthouse a lot and Williams said she would go there to see Reed.
“I would sneak up to the courthouse on my lunch hour and we would sneak kisses on the courthouse elevator,” she said.
Reed also would come by Gwendolyn’s house. She recalled a special memory of one of his visits.
“Once he came to see me on his motorcycle and brought me a huge, green dog with big floppy ears that I have to this day,” she said. “I took his class ring the day before my 16th birthday.”
She shared another memory about her and Reed.
“One Saturday while we were dating, I got mad at my mom and I ran off with my piggy bank and got on a bus,” she said. “Then I traveled to Ft. Knox where my husband was stationed. Mom hunted for me all night. My husband’s commanding officer let me stay with his wife that night. Then he let Reed take me home. That was the maddest my mom was at me.”
The couple got married when she was 17 and he was 18. For 35 years, the couple lived a life of love and happiness. The couple had two boys together.
Williams said she hopes that by sharing her story people would see that love is not a game.
“People do not need to give up on each other,” she said “Love is not about fun and games. There has to be trust built. You have to be willing give a hundred percent even thought you don’t always get that back. In time, you’ll get that back in other ways.”
Reed was diagnosed with lung cancer six and half years ago. He lived for 15 months after his diagnosis.
She said that her husband would’ve been tickled at her for entering the contest.
“He would’ve just laugh at me,” Williams said. “But everything I said and whatever I did was okay.”
Williams said that people should cherish the love of their life because in an instant, they could be gone. She said she misses him a lot.
“You don’t realize how close you can be during all that time,” she said. “From age 15 to 50 I had him to count on. When they are gone it’s like a part of you is gone. You’ll never get that time back with that person once they are gone. You don’t realize all they do for you until they are not there to do it anymore.”
She hopes people will not take their relationships for granted.
“If you care about someone, let them know,” she said. “Tell them everyday and make them feel special everyday. If you care about that person and you are sincere about having a life with that person you must be able to trust and give and trust and give and things will work out in the end.”
Williams said her husband became a Christian and was baptized.
“I know that I will see him again,” she said.
Local News
Related Photos
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Manager of Morehead Cinemas Curt Samuels, at right, presented the prize of two movie tickets to Gwendolyn Williams after her story was chosen as a winner of a Valentine’s contest hosted by Morehead Cinemas and Buffalo Wild Wings in Morehead.
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