The Sweetheart Tree: True Love Grown in the Groves

Every couple has their own story.

Some couples are lucky enough to have a story that sounds like it walked straight off the big screen or out of a novel.  Stories that compel you and make you feel like all the fairytales you read as a kid were at least a little bit true.

These kinds of tales aren’t everyday romances.  You have to ask around to find them.  We’re on the hunt for the heartthrobs. 
The “I can’t believe that really happened” plots. 
The stories that make you believe “happily ever after” still exists.

Some of the best storytellers are closer to home than you might think.  Forget the NY Times Bestselling Authors list.  Think friends.  Think family. 

If your parents or grandparents are anything like ours, you might find a true love story right at home.

Not the “when I was your age, I hiked uphill, barefoot, in the snow… both ways! Just to get to school!” kind of stories.

More like the “when I was a young man, I was so enchanted by your mother that I used to hide love notes for her in that there old oak tree” kind of stories.

Are you intrigued yet, dear reader?

Our story begins in the late 1950s, in DeLand, FL.

Julie Underhill Roth is the proud owner of The Magnolia Company, with her husband and Magnolia Company co-owner, Matt Roth.  Julie is recently a new grandmother, and she’s also the daughter of Frank Underhill Jr. – our main character.  This story was passed to her by her father, and we’re proud to share it with you this Valentine’s Day.

Frank met Miss Jean Fuller in highschool, and it was love at first sight.  Being a teenage boy of only 15, the world of love and romance was all a bit… new.  The heart-pumping, nervous sweat-inducing, feeling all kinds of butterflies everywhere all at once, “there’s a first time for everything” kind of exciting. 

Simply put, Frank was smitten.

Miss Jean was 14 at the time, and her parents deemed her too young to date. Frank would have to wait until Jean turned 16.

So, faithfully wait, he did. 

The Long Awaited First Date

When Jean turned 16, Frank couldn’t wait to take her on their first date.

It’s no secret that southern dating culture carries its own ritual “do’s and don’ts” – to this day, there’s a certain degree of decorum and standards that every young southern lady and gentleman is expected to participate in.  It’s a rite of passage, you see.

For a young man in the 1960s, that sounded something like:

“Do” meet her parents before you take her out on your first date. Dress nicely, and mind your manners. 

“Don’t” say anything other than her smile, her laugh, her intelligence, or her personality when her father inevitably asks what you like about his daughter.  The same spirit of answer applies to the “what are your intentions with my daughter?” question that he’ll pose before he permits her to leave the house with you.

“Do” expect her father to be distrusting of you, and “don’t” panic when you receive the inevitable shotgun lecture that all southern fathers seem to be contractually obligated to give any potential suitor who takes his daughter out.  (Whether or not this happened to Frank is unclear, but reasonably assumed.)

“Do” walk your date home with ample amount of time before the curfew set forth by her parents. If you want a second date with her, you follow their rules.

Most importantly of all, “don’t” hurt their baby girl.

Frank, now a young man of 17, drove over to the Fuller house.  He parked his car, knocked on the door, and endured the do’s and don’ts while minding his yes ma’ams and yes sirs.  When Jean’s parents were satisfied, our young lovers walked just shy of a mile down the road to the movie theater.  If Frank felt inconvenienced, he didn’t let on.  Frank would’ve walked 15 miles to be with Jean, if that’s what it took.

Hearts aflutter, walking a little on the slow side to cling to every cherished second on the way home, it was clear to Jean and Frank that this first date was the beginning of something special.   

Forbidden Love

Our highschool sweethearts dated for the next 18 months, until Frank graduated from DeLand High School.

Remember, Miss Jean was a year behind him.  She began her senior year while Frank entered his freshman year up the road at Stetson University.

Now that Frank was “a college guy,” Mr. Fuller made a judgement call: Jean was not allowed to date Frank any longer.  Jean was heartbroken, but Mr. Fuller was her father and she was still a teenager.  Dad’s rule was the rule, and she would respect that. 

Frank was crushed… and determined.

A Clever Solution

“Anyone who knows my Dad knows that he does not give up easily, and he was going to figure out a way to stay in touch with the love of his life,” says Julie as she recounts the story.

Mr. Fuller was clear – no dating.  That didn’t stop our young lovers from, well, being in love.

Frank remembered an old Live Oak tree down the street from Jean’s house where he thought he might be able to write and leave Jean love letters.  If he couldn’t be with her, he’d still love her from afar.

There was a hollow in the oak tree, and it was the perfect place for him to leave his sweetheart letters, so that no eyes could see them except hers.

“Dad told me the story of the first love letter that he wrote.  He would sneak in the middle of the night to find that hollow spot in the old oak tree. He carefully folded it up and tucked it snugly in a hollow, which sat about chest high in the tree,” says Julie.

The first time Frank delivered his letter, his heart felt like it would beat right out of his chest, knowing that Mr. Fuller might catch him. But his love burned for Jean, and it was worth the risk of being caught. He felt alive.

Frank went back the following night to leave another letter for Jean. His original letter was gone, and he was thrilled to find a return love note from her!  A rush of excitement filled him, and Frank was quick to deposit his next letter in return.

This went on throughout the remainder of Jean’s senior year at Deland High School until she was allowed to officially date Frank again.

Happily Ever After

Frank eventually enlisted in the military.  When he finished his bootcamp, he hit the poker tables with a goal: win enough to purchase an engagement ring fit for his queen. Frank was a jack of all trades character, and he was an especially good poker player.  He finally won and saved enough to pick out a ring for Jean. 

With an empty wallet and a full heart, he hitchhiked his way to Florida from Texas, back to the love of his life.  Frank wasted no time; he proposed as soon as he returned to Jean.

She said yes!

They married in 1962.

Jean and Frank’s abiding love for each other continued through their 59 years of marriage until Frank’s passing in 2021. Their relationship and love was an example to each of their four children and extended families. So, this Valentine’s Day we celebrate them and what it means to find true love!

What about you? What’s your happily ever after?