Valentine's Day love: Seniors renew vows at assisted living center in Port Orange
PORT ORANGE — It was the perfect occasion for a day devoted to love.
On Valentine’s Day, five senior-citizen couples renewed their wedding vows on Tuesday amid festive bubbles, heart-shaped balloons and scattered pink petals of paper mache at CountrySide Lakes Senior Living, an assisted living center in Port Orange.
“What’s a more appropriate day?” asked Peter Pakuris, the center’s marketing director, as he welcomed a crowd of nearly 100 residents, relatives and friends gathered to watch the ceremony. “These couples have been together a long time and they are an inspiration to so many young people.”
Meet the lucky couples
Making the trip to the altar on Tuesday were Janet and Sharkey Thomas, married 14 years; Marsha and Stewart Spar, married 56 years; Ellie and Clarence Bloom, married 65 years; Joan and Don Daigneault, married 69 years; and Marie and Mike Helland, also married 69 years.
Two other CountrySide couples had intended to participate in the ceremony, but were unable to attend: Marlene and Matthew Greene, married 50 years; and Aline and Normand Robert, married 73 years.
The ceremony was officiated by Barbara Lovelace, a notary public.
'Nothing goes unsaid'
In the “bridal suite,” just off the senior center’s lobby, the five couples spent the moments before the ceremony posing for pictures, sipping champagne and sharing a mixture of jokes and sincere advice about what keeps a marriage strong for half a century.
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“This is the third time we’ve renewed our vows,” said Mike Helland, 93, who met his wife, Marie, in 1950 while working as an elevator attendant in Manhattan. “We met on the elevator quite a few times.”
Across the room, Marie, who celebrates her 92nd birthday on Wednesday, acknowledged that her husband is always quick with a joke, but that’s not the secret to a long marriage.
“You have to talk about everything,” she said. “Nothing goes unsaid.”
A strong marriage based on 'a solid foundation'
As the couples were introduced, they walked the aisle to the soundtrack of Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major and the traditional Wedding March. At the altar, Lovelace offered a few words about love and marriage.
“Marriage is a sacred institution,” she said. “It is a tradition of partnership, of trust and of dependence on one another. A healthy marriage always needs a solid foundation, a foundation based on love that will stand the test of time.”
After a kiss to seal the deal, the couples shared a “first dance” to Nat “King” Cole’s “Unforgettable,” failing to notice when the recorded music stopped for a few moments due to a technical difficulty.
“They don’t need the music,” someone in the audience said.
It was true. These couples had a solid foundation.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Valentine's Day ceremony renews vows for senior couples in Port Orange
