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The Power of Persistence:

A Love Story

By Harley KingCopyright © 2012

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He was born in 1884

in Jackson County, Missouri.

the second son of

Mattie and John.

When he was six

he entered school

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and met his sweetheart and fell in love.

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All through school he was in love with this little girl.

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In high school his biggest thrill was to carry her books home after school.

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After high school they went their separate ways.

In 1910 they got reacquainted. He was a farmer

and she still lived at home with her mother.

He began to court her.

During the week he would write her letters and on the weekends he would visit her.

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After a year he finally found the courage to ask her to marry him.

Then he waited on pins and needles for her answer.

And he did it by letter.

When her answer came, it was

“No!”

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He wrote her back and said that since she had let him down in such a kind, caring way he was going to continue to court her.

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And he did for two more years. Finally, she said if I marry anyone, it will be you.

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Now there was one thing holding her back from the final step of marriage: her mother.

Her mother expected this young woman to stay home and take care of her. Probably for the rest of her life.

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Then fate stepped in. The United States entered World War I.

When the young man heard about the war, he volunteered to go fight.

When his fiancee heard that he was going to war, she told him that she would marry him.

Now think about this: What he had hoped and dreamed about came true.

She had said

Yes.

He said NO!

He said he could go to war and be wounded or killed and he did not want her to live with that.

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If he went to war and came back healthy, they would be married.

This young man went to France and fought for two years. And he came back healthy.

Two months later they

were married.

He was 6 years old when he fell in love. 35 when he married his sweetheart. 29 years.

Talk about persistence.

The difference between the winners and the losers is in

this one word:

Persistence

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Are you willing to work 29 years to

achieve your dreams?

His name was Harry S. Truman, the 33rd President of the United States.

Her name was Bess. They were married for more than 50 years.

Written and Produced by Harley King

For more inspiration, checkout my blog:http://harleyinspiration.blogspot.com

Photographs courtesy of Harry S. Truman Presidential Library