Two couples renew vows at retirement residence
“It’s a very special day,” says activities director Connie Bolsover.
Two couples renewed their vows at Chartwell Kingsville Retirement Residence on Valentine’s Day.
Every inch of the home’s dining room was covered in hearts. The aisle lined with rose petals. Residents and family enjoyed a chocolate fountain and white wine. White tulle, red roses, and photos of the home’s happy couples sat atop the piano.
“It’s all so beautiful,” said Shirley Hartley, a resident at Chartwell.
“We’ve been looking forward to this,” says resident Dee Thibert. “Connie did an excellent job.”
The two happy couples waited outside the dining room for their big entrance.
John and Doris Kubris have been married 70 years. Bernard and Sheila Marontate have been married 56 years.
Another couple, Dean and Alice Wigle, were supposed to join the festivities after being married for 60 years, but Alice was feeling under the weather.
A choir made up of four residents began to sing What a Wonderful World and the two couples walked down the aisle together. John wore a jacket decorated with medals from his service in the Second World War. Bernard and Sheila both wore smart jackets. The men were given red rose boutonnieres, and the women had white rose bouquets.
As staff member Jacinta Colasanti read them their vows, she spoke loudly into John’s ear, and Doris turned up her hearing aid.
After saying “I do,” the couples signed a certificate to reaffirm their love for each other.
“You may now kiss your … spouse,” Colasanti said.
The Kubris’ say they met on a pleasure ship years ago. Their advice for a long and happy marriage is pithy.
“Just be in love,” said Doris, holding John’s arm.
The Marontates’ got off to a bumpier start. Sheila saw Bernard while she was working at the bank.
“I told my friend, ‘That’s the one I want to go out with,’ ” she said.
But when Sheila called Bernard to ask him out, Bernard said he hung up on her. He thought she already had a boyfriend, and he didn’t want to mess with the guy.
“He was six-foot-four,” Bernard added. “I’d be dead!”
Sheila and Bernard bickered playfully over the details of how their relationship started. But while their origin story is complicated, their advice for a longlasting marriage is just as simple as the Wigles’.
“Just be there and be in sync,” Sheila said.