Love that can’t be forgotten
Weymouth North couple finds their way back to each other for second chance
John and Bev LeDrew-Hood first met when they were in the first grade.
They didn't know then that they were destined to be together. Or that it would take them decades to find this out.
The couple – who grew up in Otterburn Park, Quebec; and now live in Weymouth North – went to school together until they were in Grade 7.
“John told me later that he had a crush on me in Grade 7, but lacked the nerve to do anything about it,” says Bev.
Bev was still in Grade 7 when her family moved to Montreal in 1968. She lost touch with John after the move.
Fast-forward four decades, and both Bev and John had gone through what she describes as "extremely abusive relationships." Once they were both single, the power of social media brought them back together in 2010, when they were both 53.
A mutual friend they had known since Grade 3 reconnected them on Facebook.
“We were not looking for someone, it just happened,”
says Bev.
They began messaging back and forth on Facebook and then John asked Bev for her telephone number.
She agreed.
"Soon we were talking three hours at a time, and with the time change between Quebec and British Columbia (where Jim was now living), that was quite a feat," Bev recalls. “Within months, I decided to book a flight to British Columbia, and spent a week with John and his son Graeme."
John showed Bev all around Chilliwack. Before the week was over, his feelings were clear.
“I hope you fall in love with British Columbia, and fall in love with me,” he told her. Bev says, “I sure did!" When Bev got home, she told her 33-year-old daughter, "You have your friends and your job. I'm going to British Columbia to start over with John."
She packed up her little Ford Focus, called a moving company for the rest, and bawled her eyes out as she hugged her daughter goodbye.
Then she started driving west – stopping to spend a few days with her friend Sharon, who was responsible for her reunion with John – and then drove a lot of miles to reunite with her love once and for all.
Eventually, the couple decided to make another crosscountry move. Bev and John both have ancestors that hail from Newfoundland – John's are from Harbour Grace and Bev's are from Kelligrews, Conception Bay, and Pouch Cove.
"So, moving back east is like coming home," she says.
John and Bev now run a small mom-and-pop shop in Weymouth North, called Goods at the Hoods' Vintage & Antiques.
"The local and newlymoved to Nova Scotia customers are welcoming and curious to know where we come from," she says.
This year, John and Bev both turn 65.
"Life here, at a slower, more laid-back pace, is just what we wanted," she says.