Woman Hopes To Find Kind Couple Who Gave Her Valentine’s Day Card In Canal Park

DULUTH, Minn. — A Duluth woman is hoping to reconnect with a couple who handed her a Valentine’s Day card in Canal Park, so she can let them know how the small act of kindness brightened up her day when she needed it most.

Mary Lou Murphy was going for a walk in Canal Park on Wednesday.

“I’ve discovered that by walking, or being outdoors, relieves my anxiety and my stress,” she said.

She noticed a couple by the water, and said that she couldn’t help but think about how in love they seemed, reminding her of her own marriage with her husband.

As she headed back to her car, that man and woman caught up with her and handed her a card.

“It says, ‘Happy Valentine’s Day. Hi, I don’t know you, I’ll leave this card someplace random, but I wish you love, and ease, and laughter, and joy, and I’m just another human circling around the sun searching and seeking,” Mary said, reading the card aloud.

Mary said that during her walk alone, she had been desperately missing her husband, who she lost two years ago to cancer. Then, she saw that couple, and the pain stung a little bit more.

“As they were walking hand-in-hand, it just brought back memories of Dan, and so it was kind of tough, and maybe that’s what made my sadness more deep,” she explained.

Dan and Mary Murphy were married for 45 years and weren’t just husband and wife, but also best friends.

“He was a real special guy,” she said. “There are so many people in this world that never find that love, and it was just, people would see it, they would just tell me that we adored one another. So I’m really grateful.”

Mary said this small card is lifting her spirits around a holiday that celebrates love, during a time when so many of us are more isolated.

“I felt so strongly about getting this out to the people so that others will know how important it is to be just kind,” Mary said. “It seems to me right now people are being so, I don’t know, divisive. There’s so much sadness.”

Mary hopes that she can find this couple, to just let them know their small gesture has had a lasting impact.

“I would be so ecstatic if I could see them again,” she said. “I hope that they will continue to carry on this little tradition of theirs, and also to wish them happiness, and hopefully that they will have as wonderful a life as I had with my partner.”

She said she will be holding onto that card forever.

As for marriage advice, Mary says the most important thing is to appreciate one another and let the small things go.