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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·蘭迪斯在情人節這天有一個不變的儀式，就是在某時某地，他會靠近自己的妻子溫格，對她說"我愛你"。1928年結婚以后，每年的情人節他們都會這樣做。
去年10月，102歲的佛瑞德和101歲的溫格慶祝了他們結婚77年紀念日，未來有可能打破結婚時間最長的世界紀錄。據2006年《吉尼斯世界紀錄》記載，現在世界上最長的婚姻紀錄是78年零296天。
2006年的 情人節，因為格溫的聽力不佳，佛瑞德說"我愛你"的時候聲音要大一點了。 佛瑞德身體有點不太好，不能再給溫格寫詩了。
格溫說佛瑞德追求她的時候，經常給她寫詩，這樣贏得了她的芳心。
她害羞地笑著說："佛瑞德寫詩給我，我才會愛上他。"
1924年的時候，佛瑞德和溫格分別就讀于西雅圖的奧爾巴尼學院和辛普森圣經學院。他們是在溫格的父親當牧師的教堂相識的。后來，溫格的父親主持了他們的婚禮。
溫格還記得，她結婚時收到的禮物是800美元，但在第二年的股市風暴后沒剩下一分錢。
佛瑞德婚后40年一直從事神職工作，夫妻倆養育了4個孩子。他在美國西北部的一些小教堂里當牧師，格溫彈鋼琴和管風琴，在主日學校里當老師。
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，夫妻倆搬進了退休中心。
他們的一個朋友多蘿西婭·麥考利說："他們是非常好的人，你再也找不到比他們更好的人了。他們給每個人都樹立了榜樣，他們總是很開心，誰都沒生過氣，是上帝的榜樣。"
溫格認為他們婚姻的成功是因為"承諾"，佛瑞德也有同感。
他說："當然，我們也有過許多次爭吵，意見不一致，但是我們都信仰婚姻的承諾。"
他們現在有8個孫子女，19個曾孫子女。
他們67歲的孩子約翰說，他始終對他的父母、他們之間的關系和他們的生活感到驚奇。
約翰說："我認為，我也知道，沒了另一半他們誰也無法生活到現在，他們彼此讓對方活下去。"
(中國日報網站編譯)
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Updated: 2006-02-16 09:48
