Earl met Ethel at a dance in 1960 and they fell in love at first sight. Though Earl thought Ethel's phone number beginning with 9 seemed fake, he called her a few days later and they began dating. They enjoyed spending time together on farms and traveling. On Ethel's birthday that June, Earl proposed. They married in October 1960 and went on a honeymoon before building a life together. Though they have faced medical separations recently, after 56 years of marriage their love remains strong.

1. Proudly Presents – Our Love Story.
A Once Upon A Time written by Earl Homeniuk

2. Our Love Story began in March, 1960.
I went to a dance in Millerville, Alberta with some friends in the hopes
of meeting a nice girl.
Some of the fellows in the group had been giving me a hard time
because they didn’t like the fact that I would dance with their wives.
At first I wasn’t going to go to the dance but my conscience told me I
should go so I went.
That was one time I was glad that I listened to my conscience, as
everything turned out beautifully.

3. About half an hour after the dance started, three young women
from Calgary entered the hall.
Two of them started dancing immediately.
I was across the hall and even though I was a shy guy, I got up
enough nerve to walk across the hall and ask the one left standing
for a dance.
She had a beautiful smile, with expressive, mischievous brown eyes
and healthy looking dark brown hair which was swept back from her
face showing off her widow’s peak.
She was also an excellent dancer. I fell in love at first sight.
The feeling was mutual and I knew she was the one I planned to
marry someday. Her name was Ethel.

4. The first number in her phone number was a 9.
Since I had never seen a phone number beginning with nine before,
I thought to myself – this looks like a phony number.
At the same time Ethel was thinking – He will likely throw away the package when it’s empty and I won’t hear
from him again.
We danced pretty much every dance
that night and before the dance was
over I asked if I could take her
home.
She refused so I asked her for her
phone number. She told me her
phone number and since I didn’t
have anything to write it down on
except for a half empty cigarette
package, I wrote it down on the back
of the package.

5. However, I didn’t throw the package
away and I phoned her on Sunday,
which was a couple of days later, and
asked her for a date.
• Since I didn’t have much money in those
days we spent our fist date at the Calgary
Airport watching the planes landing and
taking off. We had an enjoyable day and
were happy to be together.
We were both surprised
and happy.
She didn’t give me a phony number
after all, and I didn’t throw away
the empty package

6. A couple of weeks later she asked me out to her parents farm at Huxley so I could meet
her parents and her twin brother.
It was an enjoyable weekend.

7. At Easter Time we went to Winnipeg along with my sister and her boyfriend who lived in Calgary to visit
my mother and sister who lived there. Everyone was happy for us!
• On Ethel’s birthday (June 30th) I gave her an engagement ring.
On October 8th.we got married
in Trochu, and we had our
reception and wedding dance in
Huxley.
The next day we left on our
honeymoon for Vancouver and
Victoria.

8. Like all married couples we had our
good times and our bad times, through
the years, but our love for each other
plus our prayers helped us through the
difficult times as well as the good times.
• We are always happy to see each other and share
the events of the week. She still has that beautiful
smile and those expressive, mischievous brown
eyes.
This year we will celebrate
our 56th. Anniversary.
Even though we have been
involuntarily separated over the past 6
years because of medical reasons, we
still have an everlasting LOVE for
eachother and I go see her at least once
every week.

9. I am convinced that eventually all
things come to pass,
But True Love NEVER Dies.