A Series of Unlikely Events

What if a fairytale romance could actually work out?

 
Walt House and Donna Martino (Photo courtesy Walt House and Donna Martino)

Walt House and Donna Martino (Photo courtesy Walt House and Donna Martino)

 

“I hate to sound sappy, but if this was meant to be — if he was my soulmate — then I owed it to myself to take this chance.”

— Donna Martino

 

In 2001, Donna Martino stuck a photograph on her fridge.

Photo from the Chicago TRibune

Photo from the Chicago TRibune

It was a picture from the newspaper of a handsome kayaker paddling through the surf.

A few months later, Donna matched with the man on a dating website.

The rest is history.

We tend to assume that improbable beginnings are a recipe for disaster — that sappy romances can’t last — that fairytale endings are only for movies.

But sometimes, the real world serves up a dose of schmaltz.

This story is about what happens when coincidences pile up, and strangers go out on a limb and take a chance on each other.

 
 

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