She was in her early forties with three children at home. Arlene had been a single mother for quite some time and felt comfortable with that life. Deep down however, there was something lacking and she filled that dark mystery with alcohol. Somehow, she managed to hold down a full time job and completely supported her kids, then her habit.

One chilly August evening, Arlene had been asked to join a few girl-friends and coworkers at the local bar. Mind you this was not a regular thing for her. The bar scene had never really been her favorite place to drink. Reluctantly though, she put on a smile and headed out for what she figured would be a dull night in a smokey club. Was she ever pleasantly surprised..

He was a much older, nice looking gentleman sitting by himself on the red barstool. Leo was enjoying a soda and free peanuts while he smoked on his menthol cigarette. Being that Arlene was quite a beautiful redhead with a smile so sparkling bright, Leo took notice. After watching her for a few minutes, he sent a drink to her table from him. Once it arrived to her, she turned to thank the mystery man and instantly their eyes engaged.

Arlene moved to barstool next to Leo for the remainder of the evening. They shared cigarettes and he bought her a few more rounds of drinks. She found it odd that all he would drink was a soda topped with a maraschino cherry. That made her feel as if it could never be possible to attract a man so differently from herself. A man that does not even drink a beer? Surprisingly though, that is exactly what she had always dreamt of having for herself and her children. Feeling slightly on edge and nervous in his presence, she prayed threw each drink that he could be attracted to her.

The night wore on as Arlene's friends and coworkers said their good nights, goodbyes and offered her a ride back home since that is how she arrived. Leo smiled and thanked them for the offer but reassured them he would see her home safely. Something inside of her body and soul emerged as this man and this woman connected. Her heart screamed over and over that everything about Leo felt so honest and right.

From that evening on, Leo and Arlene were together most of their free time. It did not take long at all for him to be introduced to her children, family members and mutual friends. Things moved very rapidly between the two of them yet both had never felt so happy before. Feeling like they had both been given a second chance at love, neither one would risk losing it. Positive changes started happening all around.

Leo had been in the Navy for many years and no longer drank. He always told us he had more than enough hard alcohol while being stranded on the ship. So he quit. He had joined A A in the past and never wanted to turn back to that devious world. His first wife had passed away when his children were fairly young from breast cancer. He stood beside her, caring for all of her wants and needs until the end. Sadly, he was then a single father. Leo never intended on falling in love again from the devastation of loosing his first love, the mother of his kids.

Arlene had spent her entire adult life working on her career in the medical field. She made herself successful by becoming a fantastic nurse. She had that motherly, sweet side about her that somehow made her patients feel better. She also never had any intention of falling in love again either. Her first and only love had passed away from a massive heart attack at a very young age, obviously very unexpected. That had left Arlene young, widowed with three small children and must I add, LONELY! That's when she began drinking heavily to hopefully drown out some of that horrific pain.

Ironically, Leo and Arlene were married in a quaint little chapel in Las Vegas shortly after meeting. Both had such intense feelings of a second chance at love and they ran with that. Never having any children as a couple, together they finished raising eachothers as a family. These two individuals were so romantically in love and vowed to stand by one another no matter what obstacles arose. And that is exactly how life went from there.

More than twenty-five years of beautiful memories, cherished thoughts and two parents that loved eachother and their children beyond words, tragedy struck again. Arlene was diagnosed with advanced stage lung cancer and only given a short time to live. Leo, now eighty-two, was struck down yet once again as we all were. Arlene put up a good fight with the devil of cancer but sadly lost that war. Leo died not long after from what most say was a broken heart. He did not want to live a single day without Arlene and as family watched this amazing man cry and crumble, we knew.

Leo passed away peacefully in his sleep..
Finally, these two beautiful human beings are together in Heaven for eternity.