“An inspiring love story to warm your heart and rekindle your love light!” 
Charles & Patti Leviton
 Living Their Dream of a Long Lasting Passionately Romantic Relationship! 
By Kay Walburger 

This timeless and magical love story began in Chicago, Illinois where  an only child named Patti lives with her adoring parents.  She was full of promise expressing lots of wit and charm as she pursued her inquiring mind and at age 17 was already in first semester of college.  It was spring semester break and she was waiting for her parents to arrive to take  her home for the holiday. 

Then the event that would impact this vital and ambitious young woman’s life forever, happened!  The haunting event made no sense, and even years later she was still trying to deal with its shock and grief.  Her parents were coming to pick her up and were killed in a terrible  head-on collision. She searched for answers about how and why this happened. There were none, only an aching heartbreak.  She lost them both after they had come so close and then this happened right outside of school. 

She buried her loss and subsequent loneliness in her studies and  managed to get on with life.  In time Patti married and had a daughter, and again she suffered loss after her husband left when their daughter was only two years old.  The message was loud and clear to her — she could only count on herself and love hurts.  Patti was a single parent now  and felt driven to provide safety and security for herself and her young daughter.  She had a lot of personal power and an independent attitude, which took her to the top of her trade. She became the first woman stockbroker to earn the right to trade on the floor of The Chicago  Stock Exchange. It was a fast-paced and stressful life but allowed her to buy a home in which she and her daughter to be safe and secure. 

Patti had suffered from headaches from the time of her parent’s death. Now after 10 years of this hectic lifestyle, her headaches were worse and more frequent. One day as she waited at a stoplight, she was suddenly aware she had lost her (peripheral) vision.  In shock and  panic she went to eye doctors only to discover she had a cancerous brain tumor. She went through radiation treatment and lost the sight in her right eye.  “It seemed like a bargain to lose the sight in one eye when the treatment saved my life,” remarked Patti as she related this  amazing story. Just when she thought life was good again the tumor came back — almost a year to the day! Once you’ve had radiation for a brain tumor you can’t do that again. Patti had to try chemotherapy this time. It  was a long drawnout process with rest periods in between sessions. 

Patti says, “ My best friend insisted I get away for the weekend and  see some new sights.  She took me to Las Vegas to see a live show featuring Tom Jones!” I agreed to go for my own good.” “We flew into town and as  I was getting ready I got very sick to my stomach and did not want to leave my room, even to see the awesome Tom Jones! If you’re a woman,  you now know how sick I was.  To this very day I bless my friend for making me go and not letting me off the hook!  So after I finished getting ready, still feeling very ill, I took my place at the front table right next to the stage.  The table was full of women and there was only one empty seat next to mine when the maitre’d seated an attractive  gentleman beside me.” 

Charles Leviton, remembers the words, “You’ll be a King at this table  of lovely ladies!” “Yes, I felt very happy to be sitting at a table of ladies. We all said fun and witty things throughout the evening but  this attractive lady sitting next to me was especially a delight.  I felt it would be safe to ask Patti and her friend out to breakfast as they were wonderfully amusing company and I had come here to relax and play!” 

“After talking and laughing with Charles that evening, I was amazed by how wonderful I felt and said yes to breakfast,” remembers Patti. Breakfast was so agreeable that he asked if we would we like to see the sights around town.” “Everything was free flowing and very enjoyable as we had fun doing interesting things together and then an important  event happened,” recalls Charles.  “I hit a nickel jackpot and then we had a bucket of nickels to play the slots with. Patti and I sat side by side for about four hours and we talked so openly and exchanged so much significant information about our personal lives that I fell in love with this enchanting woman. I knew I had to check this one out to be sure if what I was feeling was real.” 

Patti recollects “Charles called me as soon as we returned home.  I lived in Chicago and he lived in Orange County, California, where he  was a teacher at Orange Coast College.  We both had to talk again to see if it was real and not just a dream.  There was something very special happening, and to think I almost missed it by being sick!” 

“Are you real or just a fantasy of mine?”  That was the burning  question for Charles. “I had never met anyone in my life who excited me or inspired me the way Patti did. My path was clear. I had to go to  Chicago the next weekend and see — the lady of my dreams come true”!  This was very scary but worth all the risks.” 

“One good weekend deserves another sooo — The next weekend I flew to California to be with Charles,” remembers Patti. “We knew we had something good going for us!” 

Quite by Chance!
 “All the odds were against us, the universe had to work double time to get us both to Las Vegas and to be there that night at that table”, reminisces Patti.  “I now believe — coincidences are a way for God to  be anonymous.” “Charles says, “We were in love and there was such a power and energy between us, we knew we couldn’t let this go without exploring it.  You don’t get an opportunity like this every day and I had never felt this way before.  I couldn’t move because of my (tenure) at the college  where I taught.  So Patti made the choice to quite her job, sell her condo  and move out here so we could be together within three months. That was January 1983 and we have been together ever since!” 

“For me it was a turning point going through my second round of cancer and chemo — I felt very fallible, I had kept my heart guarded in relationships and never allowed anyone to get too close. Here I was taking a chance on love again.  I moved out here and everything was a fairy tale come true. We were charmed people living a charmed life. Everything fell into place with very little effort. We found a perfect place to live and were wonderful lovers and companions to each other.  We seemed to bring out the best in each other.  The company I worked for  in Chicago opened a branch out here so I had no job worries. It was an enchanted life full of love and play for about nine months, then I got the headaches again. I went to Scripps and UCLA and they confirmed that my tumor was back and growing so fast I’d be dead in six months” recounts Patti. “I thought how ironic, this time I’m the one going to die.” 

Charles recalls how angry and sad he felt at the news. “I’ll grieve and cry after she dies I said to myself, for now I am going to fill every moment of every day with love and play, however long or short our time, we’ll live it to the fullest.  I took her off to wonderful places to have our romantic adventures like San Francisco, Hawaii, and Greece.   We made fun our priority and focused our energy on living.  We had both accepted her death as certain as each night before sleep we said “goodbye” instead of good night! I was so grateful to have found this amazing woman who sparked all my greatest passions that I did not want to waste one moment of our precious time together. Nevertheless, I had  a plan to pronging the inevitable!” 

Now, as it happens, Charles is Dr. Charles D. Leviton a full-time professor at Orange Coast College, where he teaches Introduction to Guided Imagery, and Marriage and Family Life.  Dr. Leviton is a  licensed marriage and family therapist, certified hypnotherapist, and has been a guided imagery specialist for his entire career. He is also a diplomat of the American Psychotherapy Association. His plan was simple.  He would help Patti prolong her life and resolve old wounds so she could find peace in her death and leave this world with no regrets.  As for himself he would always be grateful for every moment they would have. 

The time passed all too quickly and in spite of all their efforts the moment of truth came when Patti went for one last cat scan at Charles’ urging.  Time was up — the doctor informed her that she had about 20 minutes to live. He said he could perform laser surgery but her odds were about one in a million. 

“I’ll take it!” she said. Then she was wheeled into the operating room. “Everything was in slow motion as they could sedate me but not put me out for this delicate procedure. I could see dim images of people but I could not hear. I must be dead I remarked to myself. It was then I felt a tear in my eye. I remember my thoughts.  Wait a minute dead people don’t cry — only live people cry!” 

My Miracle of Love 
“Charles being there was my miracle of love.  I had beat cancer one  more time. Somehow I knew this time it was for keeps. The many months of guided imagery had helped me through the laser surgery and recovery. Charles had lovingly taken me back to talk with my mother and helped me resolve my secret feelings of guilt for my parents’ death. Because of his skill and love, I learned how wonderful and powerful the mind is  and how it can used to heal old wounds of the heart and mind. We both agree it was the best and worst year of our lives!  We are forever grateful that we shared this magnificent life-changing and life-enhancing experience. One night a pain shot through my head like a huge bolt of heat energy.  It was very upsetting at first. When it went away, my sight returned in my right eye and was better than it had ever been. The doctors scanned to see what had happened and found no sign of a tumor or cancer, not even scar tissue. We were all amazed so I gave up my job to join my husband in his work. I went to school and received my credential and for the last 12 years have devoted myself fulltime as a Certified Hypnotherapist and Guided Imagery Therapist, working with numerous cancer groups, women’s groups and conduct weekend seminars  with my husband,” concludes Patti. 

The Conflict Between us Is The Conflict within me “The Conflict Between Us Is The Conflict Within Me” is Patti’s and my latest collaboration. We are very proud of this book and feel we can help individuals and couples have breakthroughs in communications.  Our intention is to help couples discover a magical way to understand the basis of our fears and communication blocks. Through the use of Guided Imagery (CD included) we take our readers on an inner journey of self-awakening and awareness.  These new insights gleaned in this process translate to an altered perception of the relationship and  allow the participants to view their conflicts in a much more constructive way, facilitating healing and growth of love.  Instead of merely becoming proficient at negotiation and compromise, we blossom as human-beings and strive toward more complete and loving relationships. 

For more information regarding Weekend Retreats, Individual and Group Psychotherapy, Hypnotherapy, Guided Imagery, or Imagery Certification, please contact Charles D. Leviton, Ed.D. and Patti Leviton, M.A., CHT. at Synergy Seminars, 17195 Newhope St., #106, Fountain Valley, CA 92708 or call (714) 549-4484 or (888) 791-6329. Also check out their website at www.SynergySeminars.com

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