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Still in love after 77 Valentine's
Days |
Fred Landis has a Valentine's Day ritual. Sometime, somewhere, he'll
lean over to his wife, Gwen, and say, "I love you." They say he's been
doing that on Valentine's Days since 1928, when they were married.
In October, Fred, 102, and Gwen, 101, celebrated their 77th wedding
anniversary, and they are not far shy of a record. The longest current
marriage, according to the 2006 edition of Guinness World Records, is 78
years, 296 days.
On Valentine's Day 2006, Fred will say "I love you" a bit louder than
he used to because Gwen is hard of hearing. Fred has macular degeneration,
which has kept him from writing poetry for her.
Gwen says Fred wrote poems to her during their courtship , a gesture that may have
won her heart.
"I think that had something to do with it," she said with a shy smile.
They met in 1924 as college students, he at Albany College and she at
Simpson Bible College in Seattle. Fred attended a church where Gwen's
father was the pastor. When they were married, Gwen's father performed the
ceremony.
Gwen remembers receiving $800 for a wedding gift, then losing it all in
the stock-market crash the following year.
The Landises spent the next four decades working in ministry and
raising four children. Fred was the pastor at several small churches in
the Northwest. Gwen played the piano and organ and taught Sunday school .
He retired in 1970, and they have lived in Salem since then. They moved
to a retirement center in 1994.
"They're just wonderful people. You couldn't find any better," says a
friend, Dorothea McAuley. "They're setting an example for everybody.
They're always happy. I've never seen one of them angry. They're God's
example."
Commitment is the word Gwen uses to describe their marriage success.
Fred agrees.
"Sure, we've had squabbles
and disagreements galore ," he
said. "But there's a commitment to marriage because we have a reverence to
it."
They have eight grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.
Son John, 67, says he continues to be amazed by his parents, their
relationship and their lives.
"I think - I know - they would not have lived this long singly," John
says. "They keep each other going."
(Agencies) |
佛瑞德·蘭迪斯在情人節(jié)這天有一個(gè)不變的儀式，就是在某時(shí)某地，他會(huì)靠近自己的妻子溫格，對(duì)她說(shuō)"我愛(ài)你"。1928年結(jié)婚以后，每年的情人節(jié)他們都會(huì)這樣做。
去年10月，102歲的佛瑞德和101歲的溫格慶祝了他們結(jié)婚77年紀(jì)念日，未來(lái)有可能打破結(jié)婚時(shí)間最長(zhǎng)的世界紀(jì)錄。據(jù)2006年《吉尼斯世界紀(jì)錄》記載，現(xiàn)在世界上最長(zhǎng)的婚姻紀(jì)錄是78年零296天。
2006年的 情人節(jié)，因?yàn)楦駵氐穆?tīng)力不佳，佛瑞德說(shuō)"我愛(ài)你"的時(shí)候聲音要大一點(diǎn)了。 佛瑞德身體有點(diǎn)不太好，不能再給溫格寫(xiě)詩(shī)了。
格溫說(shuō)佛瑞德追求她的時(shí)候，經(jīng)常給她寫(xiě)詩(shī)，這樣贏得了她的芳心。
她害羞地笑著說(shuō)："佛瑞德寫(xiě)詩(shī)給我，我才會(huì)愛(ài)上他。"
1924年的時(shí)候，佛瑞德和溫格分別就讀于西雅圖的奧爾巴尼學(xué)院和辛普森圣經(jīng)學(xué)院。他們是在溫格的父親當(dāng)牧師的教堂相識(shí)的。后來(lái)，溫格的父親主持了他們的婚禮。
溫格還記得，她結(jié)婚時(shí)收到的禮物是800美元，但在第二年的股市風(fēng)暴后沒(méi)剩下一分錢(qián)。
佛瑞德婚后40年一直從事神職工作，夫妻倆養(yǎng)育了4個(gè)孩子。他在美國(guó)西北部的一些小教堂里當(dāng)牧師，格溫彈鋼琴和管風(fēng)琴，在主日學(xué)校里當(dāng)老師。
1970年佛瑞德退休了，打那以后他們一直居住在塞勒姆市。1994年，夫妻倆搬進(jìn)了退休中心。
他們的一個(gè)朋友多蘿西婭·麥考利說(shuō)："他們是非常好的人，你再也找不到比他們更好的人了。他們給每個(gè)人都樹(shù)立了榜樣，他們總是很開(kāi)心，誰(shuí)都沒(méi)生過(guò)氣，是上帝的榜樣。"
溫格認(rèn)為他們婚姻的成功是因?yàn)?承諾"，佛瑞德也有同感。
他說(shuō)："當(dāng)然，我們也有過(guò)許多次爭(zhēng)吵，意見(jiàn)不一致，但是我們都信仰婚姻的承諾。"
他們現(xiàn)在有8個(gè)孫子女，19個(gè)曾孫子女。
他們67歲的孩子約翰說(shuō)，他始終對(duì)他的父母、他們之間的關(guān)系和他們的生活感到驚奇。
約翰說(shuō)："我認(rèn)為，我也知道，沒(méi)了另一半他們誰(shuí)也無(wú)法生活到現(xiàn)在，他們彼此讓對(duì)方活下去。"
(中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)站編譯)
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Updated: 2006-02-16 09:48
