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Little House on the Prairie's Ma has found love again, thanks to her beloved show.
Karen Grassle, who played Caroline "Ma" Ingalls, on eight seasons of the NBC series, which originally aired from 1974 to 1983, found herself in Monaco last summer for a celebration of the family drama's 50th anniversary at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival.
She made what turned out to be a life-changing decision when she thought to visit a former love interest just hours away in Carrara, Italy.
"I was able to get an email, which wasn't easy at first," Grassle, 83,told PEOPLEin a recent interview. "I said, 'How would you like a visitor?' And he was enthusiastic. It was quite a surprise to find how close we felt when we saw each other."
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Grassle confirmed that once she reunited with sculptor Robert Grove, they "fell back in love."
The actress decided to live in Grove's city part-time, while spending the rest of her hours in the United States.
"This morning I did the final signing for a nice little apartment here in Carrara," she said.
Grassle recalled to the outlet that she was enamored of Grove decades ago, but the timing wasn't right and they lost touch.
"When I first met him, I was only 19 years old and I was just starting my life in the theater," she explained. "Everything was new and exciting!"
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The actress eventually attained fame for her part in the Emmy-winning TV adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books about her family's difficult life on the frontier in post-Civil War America.Little Housecostarred the late Michael Landon (Charles "Pa"), Melissa Gilbert (Laura), Melissa Sue Anderson (Mary), Rachel Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush (Carrie), as the other members of the central family.
The heartwarming, but also sometimes weirdly terrifying series (the fire at the blind school! Sylvia! Jenny almost drowns!) was, of course, a big hit.
Grassle, who has also made appearances on TV'sMurder, She Wrote;Hotel; andThe Love Boatduring her career, is one of the many cast members who regularly attendsLittle Housefan events.
Other active cast members include Alison Arngrim, who played the role of Laura's frenemy Nellie Oleson, Dean Butler (Laura's husband Almanzo Wilder), and Charlotte Stewart (teacher Ms. Beadle).
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