From December 5, 2011, a popular article.
"If you've got love you've got life, if you can love you can live". - Kim Casali
A comic strip called Love Is has been around since 1970. I remember reading the panel every time I picked up a newspaper. New Zealand cartoonist Kim Casali created these from love notes that she drew for her future husband Roberto.
Kim was actually born Marilyn Judith Grove in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1941 and at the age of 19 travelled to Europe and the U.S. She worked in various jobs, including being a waitress in a London tea shop, before moving in 1967 to Los Angeles, where she met Roberto Casali, an Italian computer engineer, at a party.
She created the "love notes" during her courtship with Roberto in Los Angeles. As Kim said to an interviewer "I began making little drawings for myself to express how I felt . . . It was a little bit like keeping a diary that described how my feelings had grown."
They were married in 1971 but unfortunately lost their jobs and were now living illegally in the U.S. They were trying to find jobs that would keep them "... one step ahead of the Immigration Department" here in the United States.
In 1972, they moved to Britain and had two sons, Stefano, now 24, and Dario, now 21. In 1975 Roberto was diagnosed with cancer and died a year later. However, a third son, Milo, was born through artificial insemination in 1977, nearly a year and a half after his father's death.
In 1975, Bill Asprey was chosen by Kim Casali and her husband Roberto to take on the writing and drawing of these daily panels. Even though Robert passed away in 1976 and Kim more recently in 1997, their love continues to be shared with readers around the world.
Love can be a very enduring part of our life. Love can be shared and inspire others beyond the natural part of our life. Love is ...
Stay inspired my friends.
