Just had to share this touching story of a Rusyn Greek Catholic couple in northeast Pennsylvania, married for 70 years.
Mnohaja i blahaja lita!------------
A couple's love for the agesTested by time, the Rudeskis' bond only grows stronger
By RENITA FENNICK
(Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader, Feb. 14 2003)
http://www.timesleader.com/mld/thetimesleader/5176903.htm [
Linked Image]
HANOVER TWP. - Wasil Rudeski never was much of a gift giver, his wife Anna says.
He rarely gave much thought to Valentine's Day - no roses or chocolate. Their wedding date - the Sunday after Valentine's Day in 1933 - was just a coincidence.
It's hardly the scenario Valentine's Day promoters would have you see. But the Rudeskis' 75-year love affair - which includes 70 years of marriage - isn't about flashy tokens of romance. It's much deeper, says 92-year-old Anna. It's a union forged in love, faith, loyalty, partnership and humor.
She thinks Wasil would tell you the same, but because the 96-year-old retired butcher suffers from dementia, it's hard for him to focus or remember events.
"I guess we cared about each other," Anna said Thursday in the home the couple built in 1956. "And we met in church - that was the best thing."
Faith still plays a large role in their relationship. The rosary beads on the living room end table are within easy reach for Anna.
"I pray my rosary every morning. All I ask for is a little strength so I can take care of him. I don't want to put him in a home."
The 70-pound Anna, who suffered two broken hips in the past four years, is her husband's primary caregiver. She has hired three people who help with housekeeping and stay with the couple for a few hours daily.
Wasil is in excellent physical condition and gets around the one-story home with ease. Anna uses a walker, but is sharp. She reads the newspaper thoroughly, enjoys a good book, loves baseball and watches news programs.
"When I go down to my daughter's house, I'll get into an argument with Arline's husband," she said. "They're surprised at how much I keep up with politics and that."
Though Wasil's mental capacity is diminished, the sense of humor Anna found so appealing still surfaces.
He told a newspaper photographer Thursday that he was a butcher, adding: "I was a real cut-up."
"Every once in a while, he'll surprise us and come up with something that makes me laugh," Anna said.
Their children, Arline Fleischer of Vienna, Va., and Thomas, of Bushkill, along with their six grandchildren and other relatives and friends, will gather tomorrow at the Rudeski home to celebrate the couple's anniversary. Their actual anniversary is Wednesday.
The former Anna Lenio vividly recalls her wedding day. The couple was married in St. Peter and Paul's Greek Catholic Church, Plymouth, by the Rev. Myron Sterniuk. The reception was at her family's home in Hanover Township's Breslau section.
"It was so warm and sunny, in the 70s, and people were out in the backyard without their coats."
The Rudeskis were married in the midst of the Depression, and lived with Anna's mother for 18 months after their wedding.
In 1945, Anna and Wasil began a new partnership when they opened Sanitary Meat Market, a grocery store on West Main Street, Plymouth.
"That was one of the reasons we stayed so close," Anna said. "We worked side by side all those years."
In 1956, they built their dream home with a large basement, which was the site of numerous holiday dinners, anniversary and birthday parties and bridal showers.
The couple ran the grocery store for 25 years, retiring in 1970. They sold the building and spent much of their time traveling. They visited several countries - Dominican Republic, Yugoslavia, Italy and Venezuela - to visit their daughter, who is married to a former foreign-service officer with the U.S. Department of State.
When the 1972 flood hit Wyoming Valley, the Rudeskis lost nearly all belongings. Together they cleaned up their home and replaced their belongings.
Anna said she didn't realize at the time that their wedding day was so close to Valentine's Day. She doesn't remember receiving anything special for the mid-February holiday over the years.
"(Wasil) never had time. He was always working. He'd always say, 'Go buy yourself something.'�"
If Wasil realized this weekend was Valentine's Day, or even their anniversary, he might tell Anna to get something she wanted.
All Anna wants is to be able to take care of her valentine.
I long for a marriage that strong, and I pray that all Catholics & Orthodox cultivate the Holy sacrament they have received in marriage 
