Valentine's Day In Tanglewood
This Valentines Day had special meaning for Lori and me. Last September we were married 50 years. When we visited our family up north last summer they gave us a wonderful party; but that wasn’t the end of our celebration. This Valentines day our Tanglewood family honored us along with twenty two of our neighbors who were married a half century, along with three couples who are married for 60 years and one couple married 69 years—that’s the year I was born!
This was a class act and it is an understatement to say that we were deeply touched. From the moment we entered the stage door at the back of the auditorium we felt special. Corsages were pined to our lapels and we were graciously escorted to our table, with all the deference due famous celebrities. One at time each couple stood as their pictures showed up on the giant screen. Russ Shaneyfelt had taken his interviews with each couple and weaved them into a heartfelt story of falling in love, courtship and overcoming diversity through mutual love and dedication we shared a meal with a communal togetherness—an agape if you will—that not only bonded the celebrants but embraced those honoring us.
If each of us had our special moment standing at our table and watching the screen, we were again given our evening in the spotlight during the procession of Anniversary Couples. We line up in the back of the auditorium and one couple at a time walked down the isle to the stage. Our neighbors and friends stood and applauded. It was a special moment for us all.
It wasn’t just that the program was well organized. That goes without saying and was obvious to all who attended. Transcending that excellent planning and sense of good will that one would expect at such an occasion was a special touch that made it memorable—an air of sincere benevolence; one might rightly say love that permeated the atmosphere. When we stood on the stage and renewed our vows and looked into each other’s eyes, we saw our tears reflected and knew that these 50 years had been a blessing. For some reason we humans cry in gratitude for our blessings. We were focused on each other but had we glanced at others on the stage we would have recognize that we all shared the same emotional epiphany that was so well expressed in lines of the poem quoted by Pastor Ken Thoreson:
I love you,
Not only for what you are,
But for what I am
When I am with you
It shouldn’t take 50 years to realize the truth behind that poem, and maybe we knew that from the moment we met, but the ripening of years seems to bring epiphany like insights into a sharper focus.
There are so many people to thank for this event some visible and up front and others working behind the scenes. We will especially remember the performances by Ron Bower and the Waring blenders accompanied by Diane Lowery on the organ. We are grateful for the fine job of emceeing Tom Mckeever did jumping in at the last minute for the ailing Russ Shaneyfelt. The renewing of the vows was performed with reverence by Pastor Thoreson. These were the people we saw, but this was a community effort that as always, in Tanglewood, involves volunteers from various committees: Special Meals , Decorating Committee and the Tanglewood community Church, Audio visual duties, lighting, program designing—scores of our Tanglewood family came together and made this a memorable occasion.
Phil Pluta