Few people can claim to have been with the person they fell in love with as a teenager for more than 50 years.
Even fewer people can state that they are still married after several years of correspondence.
The renowned “Barefoot Contessa” and tv host Ina Garten has been married to Jeffrey for more than 50 years. The couple met when they were just 15 years old, and they are now 70 and 71, respectively.
Garten and Jeffrey first encountered one other in 1963 while Garten was visiting her brother at Dartmouth College. Shortly after, he wrote her an introduction letter and enclose a photo of himself.
Garten was allegedly overcome with delight after reading the letter and yelled to her mother, “Mom, Mom, you’ve got to see this image of this guy.” He’s so adorable!
Following that, they started dating. Five years later, in 1968, they got married.
However, Jeffrey was sent to Thailand for a short time following their wedding. He was forced to keep writing letters to his future wife while serving in the army.
Garten joined in too, and for a while, the two wrote to each other distantly. Since they could only talk on the phone once a year, letters started to play a big role in their relationship.
When he was gone from his wife, Jeffrey allegedly wrote a letter to her each day.
They rejoined when he eventually came back, and they started trying to schedule dates. They started going to Paris frequently, especially on their anniversary. They eventually started to think of the city as their second home.
For years, Jeffrey commuted daily to Yale University in Connecticut, where he holds a professorial position in the school of management.
The two would primarily interact on weekends because Ina worked from their East Hampton, New York, home.
As a result, Jeffrey made an effort to keep expressing his love for his wife through daily letters to her.
The two were eventually able to spend a lot of time together in 2020, when the COVID-19 outbreak temporarily pushed everyone indoors.
Jeffrey didn’t stop writing his wife love letters even then!
After 53 years together, we’re positive that Ina and Jeffrey have a genuine love story on their hands.
Comment below and let us know what you think about their tale!
