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The 2019 Hallmark Movies & Mysteries film, A Godwink Christmas: Meant for Love, is based on a true story. The movie is based on Alice and Jack Totah’s true story. Similarly, the 2018 A Godwink Christmas was also based on a true story about Gery and Paula Conover. This article will have spoilers for what’s going to happen in the movie, based on the true story of the Totahs.
The movie was inspired by the true love story of Alice and Jack Totah, which was written into a book by SQuire Rushnell and Louise DuArt. In an interview with Good Morning Texas on WFAA, Rushnell and DuArt talked about the Dallas couple’s love story.
Here’s a photo of the couple back when they got married, shared on Facebook by Jack’s sister.
They were strangers when they first met at a party for a church singles group, Rushnell shared, and by that time they had both given up on dating. Alice (then Alica Marina) thought Jack had the most beautiful eyes, and they ended up talking for hours. That’s when they realized they were both going to the same wedding that was six hours away. That’s when they realized that their cousins were getting married.
Then just before they got married, they learned that their uncles came to America on a boat together and became close friends on the trip. They were separated at customs and never saw each other again until the wedding.
The movie closely follows the real story, except because it’s a Christmas movie, they needed a lot of snow so the movie couldn’t take place in Texas like it did in real life.
You can watch Rushnell and DuArt’s interview with WFAA about the couple below:
And here’s a video from the Today Show that shows more photos of the Totahs from back in 2014.
Alice said that she had gotten so tired of dating that she told God if He ever wanted her to get married, He would have to pick out her spouse. Almost a week later, she met Jack. She said that when they drove to the wedding together, they talked the entire time and when they danced at the wedding, she felt like a princess.
Rushnell shared on YouTube about the story: “Alice had given up on men. Then, Jack Totah entered her life. They talked for 3 hours when Alice, like Cinderella, said ‘Oh my goodness! I have to go. I’m driving 6 hours to a wedding tomorrow in Victoria, Texas.’ ‘I’m going to a wedding in Victoria tomorrow,’ said Jack, ‘My cousin’s marrying a doctor.’ ‘My cousin IS a DOCTOR!’ exclaimed Alice. Wow. Same wedding! So, to save on gas (ha, ha) they drove together. What followed was a(n) amazing series of GODWINKS … reuniting, at their own wedding a year later, two uncles who had become best friends 50 years earlier on a ship to America. Godwinks not only brought together two people in love, but two families.”
According to Jack Totah’s Twitter page, he’s a healthcare IT professional, genealogist, and math tutor. His bio reads: “Husband to a wonderful wife, father to an awesome son…I thank God for each day.”
Here’s Rushnell talking about their story in a YouTube video:
The book When God Winks writes about Alice: “Alice is now a firm believer that there is a guiding power and an order to our lives… When we carry ourselves as far as we can and we feel we can go no further, that’s when we should be on the lookout for a God Wink.”
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