As strange as it may seem, the phase we both vehemently loathed was: “I love you too!”...After what we had experienced in previous relationships, we felt that the term “I love you too!” was something that could be easily said without feeling or empathy to simply placate the other party as a copout into believing they were cared about. If you think about it, it is much harder to initiate the words, “I love you”, which is an initial expression that has to come from actual feelings from within the heart, and a desire to express them to the one you love.
Our Own
Westside Love
Story
In a world that’s looking for hope, sometimes the stories that are closest to home, the most intimate and vulnerable, are the most unforgettable reminders that there’s good in the world.
An incredible memoir by eighty-one-year-old Anthony R. Balista about the love of his life, Marie, Our Own Westside Story is the kind of rare story about two star-crossed souls that shape a family for generations to come.
Although Anthony, or Tony to his loved ones, and Marie crossed each other’s paths many times, it wasn’t until after their own respective windings in various personal betrayals that they finally came together. But their happiness in love would come under fire from all sides: family disapproval, a frightening illness, and the challenges of coming together amidst their own scars and inner turmoil.
Still, this is a story of hope, redemption, healing, and the unwavering resilience of unconditional love. Readers will be swept up into a beautiful, wonderfully authentic love story that crosses decades and eras. Filled with real letters between Tony and Maria – often piercingly poetic – the story offers a rare glimpse into the most immersive world of all: a genuine family’s life.
For anyone who needs a warm, uplifting memoir about ordinary people accomplishing great things in themselves and their homes, this book is for you. And for anyone who needs a reminder that love can triumph through the ups and the downs, through all the pain of loss, and through anything that life can throw at us – it’s a can’t-miss.
Excerpts
Anthony R Balista
She was, and is, and ever will be the epitome of all good things God could have ever put into one living, breathing, human soul. Our love shall endure through eternity.
As of the writing of this story, it has been ten long lonely years since God took her home.... But each and every week since her passing, yes each and every week, I take several bouquets of fresh cut flowers to her grave as a testament of our love for each other. A lot of flowers over the years, but a ton of love. And always, when possible, they include one bouquet of yellow roses. I will do so until the day comes when God allows me to take them to her one more time and hand them to her. Our love for each other is eternal. After all, when you are talking about eternity, it was only yesterday when she left and I will see her soon.