An Elderly Man’s Heartwarming Love Song

Everybody loves a good romance, but it’s rare that we find genuinely heart-wrenching stories of true love in real life. When such stories of love and devotion do come along, we should all listen. You might need to break out a handkerchief for this one, be warned.

96-year-old Fred Stobaugh was with his wife Lorraine for 75 years, 73 of those spent in marital bliss. The couple first met in 1938 and had been together since. That’s not even the remarkable part of this story, though three-quarters of a century spent with a soul-mate is an enviable accomplishment. Unfortunately, 91-year-old Lorraine passed away in April, leaving Fred alone in Peoria, Ill.
Where it gets touching is when a local music studio became involved to help Fred honor his beloved wife. Green Shoes Studio was holding a singer-songwriter contest and among the many YouTube entries they received was one that stood out – Fred Stobaugh had written a song and mailed the lyrics to the competition in a manila envelope. The song included such sweet musings as:

“The memories always linger on / Oh, sweet Lorraine, no I don’t want to move on. / The memories always linger on. / Oh, sweet Lorraine, that’s why I wrote you this song.”

Mr. Stobaugh is not a musician and jokes that he cannot even sing, but here was musical proof of his love for his wife and how much he missed her. He had written a beautiful song and Jacob Colgan of Green Shoe Studios was so touched that he wanted to help Fred make it a reality. Colgan produced the song with professional musicians and he says:

“I started to read the lyrics and was so touched by the song and without even meeting Fred we thought, we’re going to do something.”
Fred could not believe the gesture, the song was produced free of any charge. While he had not won the competition he entered, he had gotten something far more valuable – his loving tribute had been immortalized. Upon hearing the recording for the first time Fred could hardly contain his tears and said it was “just wonderful”. Fred’s lyrics may croon that he just wishes they “could do the good times all over again”, but thanks to one business’s generosity these good times may brighten up his life right now.
This heart-warming story outshines any fictional blockbuster, as lyrics and music have helped Fred to cope with the loss of his life-long love.