Real Love Story - Man Who Shared Love Letter to Wife in the Newspaper Met Her in School

87-year-old Bob Phillips used his 61st anniversary to post a tribute to his bride on the celebrations page of their local newspaper, and now he is sharing their story of how they met.

In his “Dear Gail” letter, Phillips said he’s been checking brides’ photos every Sunday since their June 27, 1953, wedding but haven't found anyone as pretty as his bride.

Phillips, who had a triple bypass last fall, concludes his note by telling his 79-year-old wife he hopes to celebrate another 61 years with her, and “beyond that I pray we will spend eternity together.”

Read the letter here. and more below on their journey in life via the Charlotte Observer.

The two fell in love at Landis High School in Rowan County, about 30 miles north of Charlotte.

“Her first day as a student was my first day as a teacher,” Phillips said. He taught her during her freshman, sophomore and senior years, with a year’s break when he was called back to military service.

At first, of course, she was just a kid, but by her senior year “I realized she was more than just a pretty young lady.” They married shortly after her graduation.

Gail Phillips stayed home to raise their family, which eventually included two daughters and a son. She says her husband is a lifelong romantic who brought her out of her shell: “He married a very shy, young girl.”

When she was expecting their second baby, Bob Phillips decided he couldn’t support the family on a teacher’s paycheck and took a job with the Social Security Administration in Charlotte.

The couple is back in Landis now, and Bob Phillips has run anniversary announcements in the Salisbury Post and the Independent Tribune in past years. This year, he says, he put one in the Observer in hopes of reconnecting with any friends left from their Charlotte years.

Bob Phillips notes that when they neared their 60th anniversary, they asked friends what they should do to celebrate. Suggestions ranged from the nostalgic – play miniature golf, as they did on their first date – to the adventurous: Go bungee jumping or whitewater rafting. Bob Phillips said their barber suggested that at this stage of life, they should celebrate by taking a nap.

“That’s what we’ll do again this year,” he said.

So does Bob Phillips really check the brides every week?

“If he says he does, he does,” Gail Phillips says. “He doesn’t tell lies.”

Bob Phillips insists it’s true. “I don’t know what I would do if I finally found someone,” he says.

There were, he notes, two who came close. You guessed it: their daughters.