A love story for the ages
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Valentine's Day is a day we celebrate love in all forms.
This is a story about a man's love for his wife that is reaching people in an unusual way.
Every day he's there. You can't miss him as you drive by on Duncan Avenue. He sits by his wife's grave.
"A lot of people have said it helped their marriage. They said they had a fight with their wife, and after seeing me here, they sort of [realize] this was more important than a little fight," Ron Meinhardt said.
Ron and Mary Lou Meinhardt met in June of 1964; he was from Oakland, and she was from the South Side.
"There was a bunch of girls that hung out together, and we were a bunch of guys that hung out together."
Specifically, he was 18, and Mary Lou was 14.
"I was with her, and before the summer was over, I had fallen in love with her," Ron said.
And she was in love with him.
"She had her birthday in September, and we got married in October. So, we were together for 57 years."
They settled down in Sheridan, then Ross Township, and finally in McCandless.
"Four kids, eight grandchildren, one great-grandchild."
Yet, Ron felt something was missing.
"We never had a formal wedding, and I told her I wanted to, you know, always have a wedding," said Ron. "She kept saying no, she didn't need one; everything was good."
Mary Lou finally gave in as they approached their 50th anniversary.
Then, everything changed.
"She started getting sick," Ron said with emotion filling his eyes.
There was a stroke, bypass surgery, and complications.
"The last five years, I had never left her side," Ron added.
However, Mary Lou got better before a planned trip to their daughter's home in Texas.
"We went and got her checked and found that she only had a year or less to live with cancer. So, I decided at that time to renew our marriage vows."
"We did it in March and she died in June. And she loved it. I mean, she was so happy that day. She had a great smile on her face," Ron said, recounting the memories.
"We never went to bed angry. We took care of each other. And I never wanted to be away from her," Ron said.
He still doesn't.
"I just have that feeling that I have to be here for her now."
Ron said the toughest time is when he goes home to their empty house, filled with pictures of their life together.
Just how many people stop by to talk with him while he's with Mary Lou? He estimates probably 150 have stopped, but he said he's not there for attention.
He's there for Mary Lou.
