“Our song is called ‘Always’ and one line goes ‘I’ll be loving you, always,’ ” said Georgeina Abraham, 93, as she sat hand-in-hand with her husband, 97, on Thursday in their southwest Marion County home.
The Abrahams officially celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary on Aug. 19 but are being treated to an early celebration Sunday, courtesy of their church, Joy Lutheran.
The Rev. Edward Holloway called the anniversary “amazing.”
“This is the first 75th wedding anniversary I’ve heard of, much less taken part in, during 32 years of ministry. A 75-year marriage takes love, forgiveness and effort. I know faith has made a big difference for the Abrahams and they’ve held on to it together,” Holloway said.
When the Abrahams attend church, it also is “hand-in-hand,” according to Gloria Zepherin, a fellow parishioner and family friend of more than 10 years, who spearheaded Sunday’s gala.
Gerald and Georgeina met on Long Island, New York, in the mid-1930s, when they lived on the same block in Astoria and his father often gave her a ride home from school.
“I wasn’t going to let him get away, even though he had another girlfriend,” Georgeina said.
The couple dated for three years, enjoying roller skating, taking in movies and going for rides in Gerald’s car.
“At first he had a 1928 Chevy and then he got a Graham-Paige, a big touring car,” Georgeina said.
She said some couples in that era were known to “make whoopee” but said the pull-down shade in the rear window of the Graham-Paige was only used by them to “keep out the sun.”
Gerald said the car had touches like flower vases and, at the time, “gas cost a dollar for 10 gallons.”
The two married in 1939, when she was 19 and he was 22.
Zepherin showed a wedding picture of the Abrahams, with the beaming groom in a bow tie and tuxedo and the blushing bride in a wedding gown with a very long train, posed before an art deco background.
“The train was from the veil. The picture was taken at Lincoln Studios in Jamaica, New York. I cried at our wedding, and it was pouring rain,” Georgeina said.
Zepherin called the rain “showers of joy.”
“When we got married, my dad said ‘You’re on your own now,’ ” Gerald said.
Gerald and Georgeina recalled New York in 1939 and the excitement of new items being introduced, such as household refrigerators and television.
“We had an ice box,” Gerald said, to which Georgeina said she “couldn’t believe electricity could make ice.”
The couple settled in Rosedale and raised two daughters, Joyce Miller, 73, and Bonnie Reyero, 69.
“Joyce was born in 1941, at the start of World War II, and Bonnie in 1945. I remember crying in the hospital wondering how I would get by with Gerald going in the service,” Georgeina said.
As it turned out, Gerald was deferred from the draft because of developing diabetes and a defense-related job. He later worked with the New York City Department of Corrections at Hart Island and Rikers Island.
Georgeina worked for a few years making Halloween-type face masks and then at General Bronze Company, a defense-related antenna manufacturer.
Georgeina said she and her husband enjoyed television shows with Sid Caesar and Ed Sullivan. The girls had their own favorites.
“The kids danced a hole in the rug in the early 1960s while watching Dick Clark. I got a little throw rug and covered it before Gerald saw it,” Georgeina said with a grin.
She said her parents moved in 1951 to Union Park, Fla., near Christmas, and that she and her husband and the girls would come to visit on their vacations.
The Abrahams moved to the Ocala area about a dozen years ago. In addition to their daughters, they have six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
As for changes seen over their 75-year marriage, Georgeina said the cornucopia of electronics today can cause isolation.
“I think computers should be used for information (and research). There’s no privacy today,” she said.
Although she has a cellphone, she said electronics should never interfere with, or be substituted for, personal communication.
“I always called or hand wrote a letter. A letter lasts, and won’t be deleted,” she said.
As far as their “secret” to a long marriage, the couple said it is all about communication and a sense of humor. Georgeina also said, “We discussed every major decision.”
And, she added, “Being in love means you never forget your wedding vows.”
Article source: http://www.ocala.com/article/20140425/ARTICLES/140429769/1001/NEWS01?Title=Couple-credits-communication-humor-for-keeping-them-intact-