By Alexandra Caldwell
Salvatore Cannata lays a big kiss on his wife, Rosa, right after they and 10 other couples renewed their vows at Palm Garden of Pinellas nursing home. Photo: Alexandra Caldwell.Collectively, the 11 couples at Palm Garden of Pinellas nursing home have been together more than five centuries. June 13, they renewed their vows in front of family, friends and others at the home.
Harold and Glenna Spears – 67 years
They met when Glenna came to one of Harold’s choir performances, and he soon knew would marry her.
Glenna graduated from high school in 1940 and they were married Christmas Day of the same year. Why Christmas?
“Because I don’t like doing anything haphazard,” Harold said. “I want something done with some significance. Something someone will remember. I was that way all my life.”
One of their happiest memories is when Harold worked from a motor home and Glenna joined him on his travels with her Chihuahua.
Salvatore and Rosaria Cannata – 66 years
When Salvatore, 91, met Rosa, 89, at a friend’s house, it was love at first sight. He knew he wanted to marry her.
“There was eye-to-eye contact and that was it,” Salvatore said.
He proposed only a few months later and they got married right away. Salvatore had just moved from Italy and didn’t have any other family in the United States.
Some of their favorite memories are cruises together.
“And the honeymoon,” Rosa added. “Who can forget that?”
What’s their advice for young couples?
“Love one another and trust one another,” Salvatore said. “Trust one another and everything will be ok.”
Floyd and Alyce Jabaay – 60 years
Alyce, 78, met Floyd, 85, at a roller rink. They dated about a year and a half before they were married and enjoyed water-skiing and other water sports throughout their marriage.
The couple has two sons and a daughter, nine grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren, who live in Indiana.
Some of their happiest times were visiting with family, going to Europe with their youngest child, and when Floyd won a trip to Palm Springs.
Alyce said the key to a happy marriage is to take it one day at a time.
Grant and Emily Bieling – 60 years
Grant, 79, met Emily, 80, when he was stationed in Gloucester, Mass., at the beginning of his 27 years in the Coast Guard.
“How did we meet? I whistled at her,” Grant said. “I was a young sailor and I whistled at her and I walked her home. And I told her the first night I met her on the front doorstep that I was going to marry her. Her father thought I was a nut, but her mother liked me, so I had it made.”
They were married about a year and a half later.
Grant’s happiest moment in marriage was when their first child was born. A girl. Grant had wanted a little girl. They later had two sons and they have nine grandchildren.
And what’s the key to a long, happy marriage?
“Probably giving into what the wife thinks,” Grant said. “It’s easier that way. Because frequently they’re generally right. But there are a lot of other things that go with it to have a good marriage. You have to put up with going without when you have to. And don’t spend money that you don’t have. And you stand by each other.”
Chuck and Alice Britt married 53 years
Alice, 75, and Chuck, 77, met in junior high school and got married after he returned from the service.
Alice jokes that the key to a happy marriage is a traveling husband, but they learned that even if they argued, they can work things out, Chuck added.
After 10 years of marriage, they had their first and only son, Scott. That was the happiest day of their lives. Now they have two grandsons who live in Atlanta.
They advise young couples to share and talk things out. You have to give more than you receive, Alice said, and then that will be reciprocated.
Ervin and Virginia Adkins – 49 years
Ervin, 72, and Virginia, 68, were set up by friends on a blind date.
Virginia said she’ll always remember their wedding in Ervin’s parents’ home. She likes that it was just small with family and friends, not stressful like weddings nowadays.
Their happiest memories were when their three sons and their grandchildren were born; however, they caution young couples that marriage includes difficult times, too.
“It’s not always happy,” Virginia said. “Don’t always expect things to be perfect. Compromise. Stick it out.”
Richard and Cathy Tuhro – together 38 years
Cathy, 56, met Richard, 73, at horse stables when she was 18. Both of them owned and showed horses. When they met, it was like magic, she said.
They have one son together, Joe, and two grandchildren.
The key to a happy relationship, she said, is to be friends, and think of the other person first. When the other person is happy, you’re happy, Cathy said.
“(We renewed our vows) just to show the world we’re still together after all these years, and we still love each other now as much as when we first met,” Cathy said.
Michael and Carol Fenton – 35 years
Leigh, 83, and Michael, 88, met in Okinawa, Japan, where he served as a ship’s captain, she said. She met him at port and he took her sailing on his private boat – which she almost sunk. Leigh didn’t know about shutting off the valve to make sure sea water didn’t come in, she said.
Later they decided to marry and tried to apply for a license.
It was Michael’s fourth marriage and Leigh’s third, but this one stuck. They share a sense of humor, even though both of them are stubborn, she said. She still laughs when she remembers when he called her from Africa to ask her how to cook a meal.
John and Regina Tighe – 35 years
John, 79, and Regina, 80, were introduced to each other at church. They were drawn to each other by their shared values for family and church, she said.
Regina taught high school on Florida’s east coast, and John worked at St. Anthony’s church on the west coast. They were married in New Smyrna Beach then moved to St. Petersburg where they could care for their mothers.
They share fond memories of cruises and traveling the world, though their favorite destination was Bermuda. Regina jokes that the key to their marriage was surviving their mother-in-laws
Fred and Josephine Stevens – 28 years
Fred, 68, and Josephine, 87, met at a church singles event. She thought he was cute and they’ve been together ever since. She doesn’t know why exactly, but she liked him.
“Love. Love is the key (in marriage,)” Fred said. “I love my wife. She drives me crazy, but I love her.”
Josephine said she hopes their children are as happy as they are in their own marriages.
John and Jackie May – 23 years
John, 55, first met Jackie, 44, when she was 11 and he played golf with her father. They later became friends and hit it off as adults. About three weeks after they began dating, John visited Jackie in the hospital.
“She said that I must love her because her face was all swollen up,” John said. “And I told her she must love me because my face looks like this and it’s not going to change. And that’s when we decided to get married.”
One of their happiest moments was about six months after they got married and moved out of John’s family’s house – with about 14 other of his family members – and into their own home.
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