The Lutheran Home at Topton hosted vow renewal ceremonies for older-adult residents Feb. 13 in honor of Valentine’s Day.
“I hope it renews their love for one another. Being that it’s Valentine’s Day, I think it’s the perfect day to do that,” said Connie Hartman, marketing and sales manager for independent living at The Lutheran Home at Topton. “Being around all of these couples in a retirement community, you see their strength and it’s a beautiful thing.”
From 2 to 4 p.m., the senior living community held a vow renewal for senior living and personal care residents, as well as others associated with the community, who wished to remember and honor their marriage commitment.
The Rev. Dr. Colleen G. Kristula, Chaplain at The Lutheran Home, performed the ceremonies with a reception complete with flowers, decorations, cake and refreshments to follow.
“Some of our residents requested that we have this event because they had it in the past here and we haven’t had it for several years,” said Hartman. “We’re bringing it back the day before Valentine’s Day and the residents have really enjoyed it.”
Five couples renewed their vows.
“I think it was nice, even though it was a small group, I think that made it special,” said Hartman.
Charles and Linda Eiss, of Topton, renewed their vows for the third time. Originally from New York City, the couple will have been married 50 years on Aug. 21, 2015.
“It’s just nice because you don’t say it a lot of times,” said Charles.
“Life gets busy and you don’t always say what you should say and so this forces you to do it in front of a lot of people,” said Linda, with a smile. “It was nice.”
Dee Fabbioli, originally from the Allentown area, went to Kutztown University for two years and then went to New York and met her husband Basil Fabbioli. They lived in Syracuse, N.Y. for about 60 years and celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary on Feb. 15, 2015. They now live at The Lutheran Home.
“We enjoy renewing our vows,” said Dee. This was their second vow renewal. “We did it for our 35th anniversary and our granddaughter, who was 8 at the time, said under one of our pictures, ‘This is when Grandma got married again,’ which we thought was cute.”
Ruth and Harry Kemp, who live in Luther Haven cottages, originally from the Allentown area, have been married 64 years. This was not their first time renewing their vows.
“It was fun. We’ve done it before,” said Ruth.
They married in Oklahoma, twice. The first time they married in another county than where they registered for the marriage license, which made the license void. “So we had to start all over,” said Ruth with a chuckle. “So we celebrate twice.”
The Kemps say that “selflessness, committed love and common sense are the secrets to a long, happy marriage.”
