When Clare Cory was a young girl, she dreamed of love. But by the time she turned 50, Clare hadn’t found it. Still, she took a look around and found she was happy and was looking forward to the future. Clare fell in love with life. She saw a flower bloom, watched sunlight sparkle on the water and held her cat on her lap. Her heart was full. Then, to her surprise, as Clare faced cancer and was about to turn 60, romance arrived. On today’s episode, Clare explains how she fell in love and began sharing her life at a time when she least expected. This episode is adapted from Clare’s Tiny Love Story from 2024, "Finally Finding ‘The Magic.'"
Love now. And did you fall in love last, fella? Love, love, but stronger than anything. And I love you more than anything. You're still love love.
From the New York Times, I'm Anna Martin.
This is Modern Love.
Each week we bring you stories inspired by the Modern Love column.
We talk about love, love, lust, heartbreak, and all the messiness of relationships.
When Claire Corey was a young girl growing up on a farm in Montana, she dreamed about falling in love.
We lived in a single wide trailer.
It was a little bit crowded, so I slept on the couch.
And I would often look out the window at the full moon.
And it's very beautiful.
And I would watch the moon sail across the sky.
And me being the hopeless romantic child that I was,
I envisioned that somewhere out there under that same moon, was the man for me.
Just after she graduated college, Claire got engaged.
But then right before the wedding, her fiance called it off.
After that, she spent years, decades, even, trying to make various relationships work.
But none of them did.
So eventually, she stopped worrying about it and decided to focus on her career.
After her 50th birthday, she looked back on her life and felt happy.
You know, you think, wow, I've come a long way in life and I still have a long way to go.