One of the most wondrous things about love? It often finds you when you least expect it and in the most unlikely of places. Like say, for instance, a long-term-care hospital.
Margaret “Muffi” Lavigne is a patient at the Hospital for Special Care in New Britain, Connecticut. At age 7, she was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, a progressive disease affecting the musculoskeletal system, and can now no longer walk. Margaret always wanted to find true love, though it certainly didn’t seem likely within the stark walls of the hospital.
“Everybody wants ‘the one,’ ” she told The New York Times. “I did not expect to find it here of all places.”
And then one of the nurses let Margaret in on a little secret. The patient in the next room over had a crush on her. His name was Chris Plum and he too was suffering from muscular dystrophy and couldn’t walk. Chris was a true gentleman. When he finally asked her out, though, Margaret had her doubts.
“He said to me, he’s like, ‘Can I talk to you? I was wondering if maybe you’d like to go out,’ ” Margaret recalled. “And I’m going, How are we gonna do this? But I went, ‘Sure, OK, why not give it a shot?’ ”
And so their courtship began. The two fell in love and were eventually married on the grounds of the hospital. Their love story is now the subject of The New York Times documentary Good Night, Margaret.
It’s really a video worth watching. Proof of the miraculous power of love, which flourishes even when all hope appears to be lost. If only, like Margaret, we take a leap of faith and “give it a shot.”
“I’ve had people ask me, ‘Do you ever wish you could walk again or not have the disease?’” Margaret said. “If I’ve got Chris? I’d take it.”
Have you ever found love in an unusual, unlikely or unexpected place? Share your story below.
