The Letter and The Love Story
Every once and a while my grandfather writes a story about my grandma and submits it to the paper or a radio station. It generally gets published or read over the air. This time, a local news station decided to write a story on the two of them. Here's the story
Dear Rachel,
As a longtime viewer of Channel 13 News, I’ve been meaning to write you in the past, but always put it off. The reason I wanted to write was to tell you that you look so much like my late wife, Alice Rebecca, who passed away February 28, 2006. I miss her dearly and watching you each night on TV brings back visions and memories of her. Not only do you look like so much like Rebecca, but I think your manner and personality are exactly like hers were…I hope I’m not offending you, but I wanted to share this with you. Rebecca and I were married for 52 years (Aug. 7, 1954) and were devoted to each other. The photos I’m sending you of her were taken 40 years apart, but as you can see, she never aged. Also you both look so much alike…I hope I have not offended you. Each day I look for anything that reminds me of my wife, Rebecca.
Sincerely,
Frank Liuzzi
P.S. Hope I’ve spelled your name correctly.
There were three photographs folded into the letter.
I looked up Frank in the phonebook and called him to say thank you for sharing his memories and feelings. He was surprised to hear from me and thrilled to talk about his beloved.
They met in the Pentagon in 1950. Frank, who grew up in Rochester’s Dutchtown, was in the military. Rebecca, a Tennessee native, worked for the Department of the Army. She was 18 years old.
“I noticed about five desks away this beautiful girl sitting there. I invited her out for a coffee break - every few minutes in the government is a coffee break,” Frank said.
It took two tries before Rebecca gave him her phone number.
“We went out once and went out for the next 30 nights straight. We fell madly in love.”
Frank was sent overseas to fight in the Korean War. He was gone a year. Rebecca went back to Tennessee. They wrote to each other every day, numbering each letter to keep them straight.
“I still have the letters in chronological order,” Frank said. “Occasionally, I take them out and read them. It takes me a couple days. There are more than 1,000 of them.”
They married in 1954, living in Washington, D.C., Tennessee, and Rochester. They have one daughter. Frank and Rebecca wanted more children, but doctors advised against it because of Rebecca’s Type I diabetes.
The disease took its toll and Rebecca died in 2006.
“I go to the cemetery every day. If it’s raining, I just sit in the car. She has red flowers on her grave. Red was her favorite color,” Frank said. “I just miss her so much. I cannot get over her loss because we were so close.”
Frank is 80 now. He isn’t alone. He has his daughter, who lives two blocks away. “I’m there too much,” he said.
“Rebecca used to tell me, ‘All I want in this world is you.’ She gave so much and she was true to her word,” Frank said. “We had our difficulties, but one thing that overcame everything was one simple thing - love.”
Dear Rachel,
As a longtime viewer of Channel 13 News, I’ve been meaning to write you in the past, but always put it off. The reason I wanted to write was to tell you that you look so much like my late wife, Alice Rebecca, who passed away February 28, 2006. I miss her dearly and watching you each night on TV brings back visions and memories of her. Not only do you look like so much like Rebecca, but I think your manner and personality are exactly like hers were…I hope I’m not offending you, but I wanted to share this with you. Rebecca and I were married for 52 years (Aug. 7, 1954) and were devoted to each other. The photos I’m sending you of her were taken 40 years apart, but as you can see, she never aged. Also you both look so much alike…I hope I have not offended you. Each day I look for anything that reminds me of my wife, Rebecca.
Sincerely,
Frank Liuzzi
P.S. Hope I’ve spelled your name correctly.
There were three photographs folded into the letter.
I looked up Frank in the phonebook and called him to say thank you for sharing his memories and feelings. He was surprised to hear from me and thrilled to talk about his beloved.
They met in the Pentagon in 1950. Frank, who grew up in Rochester’s Dutchtown, was in the military. Rebecca, a Tennessee native, worked for the Department of the Army. She was 18 years old.
“I noticed about five desks away this beautiful girl sitting there. I invited her out for a coffee break - every few minutes in the government is a coffee break,” Frank said.
It took two tries before Rebecca gave him her phone number.
“We went out once and went out for the next 30 nights straight. We fell madly in love.”
Frank was sent overseas to fight in the Korean War. He was gone a year. Rebecca went back to Tennessee. They wrote to each other every day, numbering each letter to keep them straight.
“I still have the letters in chronological order,” Frank said. “Occasionally, I take them out and read them. It takes me a couple days. There are more than 1,000 of them.”
They married in 1954, living in Washington, D.C., Tennessee, and Rochester. They have one daughter. Frank and Rebecca wanted more children, but doctors advised against it because of Rebecca’s Type I diabetes.
The disease took its toll and Rebecca died in 2006.
“I go to the cemetery every day. If it’s raining, I just sit in the car. She has red flowers on her grave. Red was her favorite color,” Frank said. “I just miss her so much. I cannot get over her loss because we were so close.”
Frank is 80 now. He isn’t alone. He has his daughter, who lives two blocks away. “I’m there too much,” he said.
“Rebecca used to tell me, ‘All I want in this world is you.’ She gave so much and she was true to her word,” Frank said. “We had our difficulties, but one thing that overcame everything was one simple thing - love.”