May 23, 2012
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- True Love: Is it a myth or marvel? Sometimes it's hard to know.
This Valentine's Day we sent Local 8 News reporter Sara Shookman on an in-depth investigation into our hearts. What makes the beat for the one?
You can find it just about everywhere, but it's hard to hold onto.
Rick and Joanna Carl are newlyweds. Friends in college 35 years ago, but never more until 2010 when they reconnected through email.
"I don't think either one of us thought we'd be this happy again," said Rick Carl.
They talked for months before they saw each other again and when they did, sparks flew.
"We just stood there holding each other. I won't tell them what you said," said Rick. "No, you won't," said Joanna. "It truly is like finding the other half of your soul, your spirit."
You know the feeling: butterflies in your stomach, your pulse races. Is it just good chemistry? Or is it actually...chemistry?
"There is a direct connection between those chemical responses and our emotions," said Dr. Robert Elder, an OBGYN at University of Tennessee Medical Center.
Elder says scientists have found three phases of the love relationship: interest, then an addictive infatuation state, then an attachment phase we call commitment.
"In a sense, we're made to be attached. We're social creatures," said family psychologist Dr. Edwin Rogers.
How do you get from the altar to happily ever after?
"I don't know what I thought 52 years later would be like. I really didn't," said Joan Riordan.
Jim and Joan Riordan say they're still with the right one. "His friend Roger set him up on a blind date. And then what happened?" said Joan.
"Here we are," said Jim with a laugh. Five decades and four kids later, there have been countless challenges.
"We've done a lot of fighting too. We both have tempers," said Joan.
But they didn't expect it to be easy. "You have to be willing to give of yourself, instead of always being focused on self," said Jim.
"I think true love is not only the romance part of it, but then following through into the harder times," said Joan.
Even the docs admit, chemistry can't tell the whole story.
"There's still something mystical or magical about the whole love relationship," said Dr. Elder.
"Joan is still learning," said Jim Riordan.
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