JEFFERSON TWP — Four senior couples recently told the Butler Eagle that with the right attention and care, love can be long-lasting.

The couples, all residents of Concordia at Cabot’s retirement apartments, shared their love stories and offered some advice to those still seeking their forever person.

Dan and Teresa Howard met in church at a “coffee fellowship” get-together after service.

“I saw him walk in and I was like, oh wow,” Teresa said.

She said they have taken 24 cruises together, including to Alaska and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“We love the Super Bowl cruises because you can sit up on the deck and watch the game on the big screen under the stars. We already booked it for this year, but we had to cancel,” she said.

Dan said some of his favorite moments over the decades include raising their six children.

“We raised them, and they all turned out OK. We went through the whole thing of little kids having little problems to big kids having big problems. We all stood together, each and every one of us,” he said.

Teresa said the most important thing is finding someone who can make you laugh. Dan added that having aligning beliefs is a strong foundation for a relationship to blossom.

“We’ve always built our lives around community and activities and surrounding ourselves with good people,” he said.

Nick and Gale Limansky met attending college at West Virginia University. Both were scholarship music students working on a production of the opera “Carmen.”

Gale was cast in the role of Carmen, while Nick sang in the chorus. During the performance of “Habenera,” Carmen was directed to intentionally back up into the chorus, which was playing soldiers during the scene.

“She did what he said and ended up backing into me. So I started following her around the creative arts center to see if I could ask her for a date,” Nick said.

“I turned around (during the performance) and I was like, whew, that’s a very handsome soldier that I backed into. It was love at first sight,” she said.

When he finally asked for a date, Gale didn’t hesitate to say yes.

In the 52 years since, both agree that love is a lot of work, and communication is the key to a successful marriage.

“If you’re looking for someone to date or get involved with, communication is the most important thing. You need to be able to grow together,” Nick said.

He recalled a time when Gale went to sing in Europe, but he was unable to go with her.

“She sat me down every day and told me about her experiences in Europe so we could grow together. That made a big difference,” he said.

“I think love is being a friend to your spouse as well as (romantically) loving him, and really trying to communicate and grow together no matter what,” she added.

While the Limanskys never had children of their own, they found joy acting as unofficial parents for people in their lives as well as one another.

“A lot of people aren’t blessed with children, and we found that the best solution for us was to become each other’s child. We allow each other to be silly, and I think that’s kept us young,” Nick said.

Rick and Becky Gallagher met in high school, but didn’t seriously date until after graduation. However, the relationship met a surprising end in 1966 when Rick was drafted into the service.

“I didn’t want to make her wait for me, and I didn’t want to worry about what was going on. I had a mission I had to do. We broke up — I guess I broke up with her because she didn’t know why. I didn’t tell her (I was drafted) because I didn’t want to put her through that,” he said.

He said when he was injured while in the service, Becky went to his mother’s job to ask for his address. She began to write to him, and when he returned home in 1968, they got back together.

“She was still available, and I made it back,” Rick said with a laugh.

Nowadays, the pair say they are big on family time. They still try to gather as many of their children and grandchildren for family outings and trips.

“We just took a trip out West,” Becky said. “We just went all over. We hit every state except California and it was great. It was the trip of a lifetime.”

She said at the end of the day, the reason they’ve been married for nearly 56 years is because of the magical feeling when you’re with someone you love.

“There’s all kinds of other things like commitment, communication and compatibility make for a good marriage. But love? That’s just that tingly, special feeling,” she said.

Jon and Jane Miller met in a familiar spot for many county residents: Hotel Saxonburg.

“I went to get a haircut, and Glenn Leslie was my barber. Anyhow, it was in the evening and he was closing down, so we stopped at the hotel to get a beer afterward. Glenn knew the girl (Jane) was with, so we got introduced,” Jon said.

They ended up having one son and two granddaughters who still live nearby, making it easy to visit. While they used to go tent camping a lot, they purchased a cabin to make it a little easier nowadays.

“We also hosted a lot of family reunions, and that meant a lot to us. Family is important to us on both sides,” Jon said.

They said they prefer small-town life, so they stayed in Saxonburg, being involved in their church and spending time with family.

As for how they’ve stuck together for the past 51 years, Jane said it’s important to focus on the bigger picture.

“I think you have to skip over a lot of little things. Don’t let those take control of your life. We turn pages every day,” she said.

She added that being patient and talking things out can solve a vast majority of relationship problems.

“I think today, young people sometimes give up too easily or too quickly,” she said. “You have to work at marriage. It’s not easy to give up your life and move in with someone else. Don’t let it fester inside you.”