Meet Jack Potter and his wife, Phyllis. Their story is every bit as good – and, in fact, greater – than the fictional love story portrayed in Hollywood. The two met in 1941 at a wartime dance hall and quickly fell in love. “I remember it like it was yesterday the first time I met her – she came up to me and asked me to dance,” Jack told Daily Mail. A mere 16 months later, the couple was married.
Jack then documented every bits of their life, the holidays they took, and even their daily conversations in the diary.
Jack and Phyllis have been married for more than 70 years and Phyllis now suffers from dementia. In order to keep their relationship alive, Jack visits her in retirement home on a daily basis and reads her excerpts from the diary he’s kept for the past seven decades – just like Noah does in The Notebook. They laugh, reminisce, and even steal a kiss every now and then.
And while times haven’t always been easy, their love has flourished as a result of one simple decision: Choosing love every single day. “Phyllis means everything to Jack,” said a manager at the home where she resides. It’s clear that – even though she may not always realize it now – Jack means everything to Phyllis, too.
