In honor of Valentine’s Day, residents Peter and Ellenora Herrschaft share what makes their love long-lasting
By Peter and Ellenora Herrschaft
Special to The Sun
My husband Pete and I met in 1953 at Iona Lake (just outside of Franklinville) on July 4 where they were having fireworks and a dance.
We were married in 1954 on April 1, (yes, April Fool’s day) and everyone, friends and family, were taking bets on how long it would last as, I was older than him and he was a sailor in the U.S. Navy (you know a girl in every port).
Well, we fooled everyone including ourselves because here we are 64 years later and still married.
We had three honeymoons. The first right after the wedding, we spent a day in Atlantic City and Pete was shipped out to the North Sea for five months. When he returned, we spent a couple of days at Niagara Falls before he returned to his base at Charleston, N.C.
I joined him for a week as our final honeymoon.
In 2004, on our 50th anniversary, I thought it would be romantic to redo our honeymoons all over again.
Thinking it would not be possible, we compromised with a weekend in Atlantic City at one of the casinos, but we discovered a bus tour for five days to Niagara Falls at a reasonable price. We were thrilled when we returned home and discovered his ship’s reunion was being held in Charleston, N.C.
So, on our 50th anniversary, we got to do all of our honeymoons again.
What makes us stand out from other couples is we are complete opposites and have little in common except our love for each other and four wonderful children, eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren, and we are still together after 64 years.
What is the secret of our long marriage?
Always communicate with each other, discuss any problems and compromise when those problems come up.
Don’t try to control each other and give your partner room to grow and enjoy their individual pleasures.
Communication and compromise make the strongest foundations to build a relationship upon.
