Anne and Gilbert, please meet Anne and Gilbert

A real-life Anne and Gilbert are spending their vacation in P.E.I. this week learning all about the other Anne and Gilbert, the popular characters from the book, Anne of Green Gables.

As a girl, Anne Hamilton said sheread the book andwondered if someday she'd meet a man like GilbertBlythe.

It turns out she did.

She met Gilbert Hamilton when she was 14. They were marriedin 1988.

"It was meant to be," Anne said of their meeting, "because I loved the book so much when I was young."

'Kind of cool to tell people your name'

Prince Edward Island is one of the first places Anne Hamilton, who lives in Ontario, wanted to visit after she retired.

During the visit, the couple went to see Anne of Green Gables: The Musical and visitedthe Anne of Green Gables site.

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"It's kind of cool to tell people your name when you happen to get the chance," said Gilbert.

"They will immediately say, 'Oh my word' and you know you've met an Anne of Green Gables fan," adds Anne.

While they are meeting lots of fans, Gilbert himself has never read the book.

"I know the story because I married Anne and she tells me about it."

Anne's love for the book has gone as far as naming the couple's small cottage Green Gables,"even though it isn't green and it has no gables," she said with a laugh.

The couple got their story book moment when they attended the musical at the Charlottetown Festival. A J Bridel, the actor playing Anne Shirley, announced to the audience at the show there was a real-life Anne and Gilbert in the audience. After the show they had their pictures taken with Bridel and Aaron Hastelow, who is playing Gilbert.

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