It's never too late to find second love
George Rabold waited 11 years to marry his wife, Joyce.
George and Lisa Phillips married in Las Vegas 30 years after they first met.
After working together for years at the Kean Theater, Lois and Walter Sykes also got hitched.
Reflecting on love this Valentine's Day, all agree it's never too late. Marriage has advantages the second time around.
"We do everything together," said Lisa Phillips, 46, who married 53-year-old George two months ago.
"We go dancing, we eat, we go out, we even clean together," Lisa said.
"That's what was wrong with out first marriages, we didn't spend any time together."
After a two-year engagement, they decided one morning their wedding day would be that day.
Their witness was a Philadelphia woman who was up next at the altar.
"The second wedding was definitely more spontaneous," Lisa Phillips said.
She said her first wedding was planned meticulously. "We had it all set up, and 20 people in the wedding party, and everything," she said.
But for the second marriage, the Butler couple didn't go the traditional route. "Oh yeah, we just woke up and decided," Lisa said.
They knew each other since childhood, both attending St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church on Center Avenue.
Lisa recalls "checking George out" when she was 15 years old. "Who would have ever dreamt that 30 years later we would be married!" she said.
In 1999, George and Lisa re-introduced themselves at Lisa's birthday party. About nine months later, George asked Lisa out. Their first date was a trip to the Strip District in Pittsburgh.
Now they take a trip together to Las Vegas each year and are looking for a home together. They spend time with George's daughter and Lisa's two daughters, but they credit their relationship's success with the amount of time they spend together.
People also find love after retirement. While retirement communities are not a "hot spot" for singles, those in the community say it is not rare for seniors there to connect.
"I think the trend is increasing for people to get involved in a courtship at this stage of life," said Larry Talmadge, director of retirement services at Concordia Lutheran Services in Cabot.
In his 11 years in that position, Talmadge said there was one marriage in the first six years there, and about five marriages in the past five.
"It's interesting. We have three or four courtships going on here right now," he added.
Shelli Sommariva, a spokeswoman at St. Barnabas Health Systems, said residents at The Village at St. Barnabas retirement community do a lot of group activities, which include a monthly dance."Just because they are seniors doesn't mean they are not socially active," she said.Lois and Walter Sykes met while living at St. Barnabas.Lois, 85, married Walter, 90, in October after the couple met about five years ago. Lois' husband of 58 years died in 2002, and Walter's wife died some years ago. They were both so happy with their first marriages that they decided to try it again, Lois said.She describes the history of the relationship in very simple terms. "I met him here. We ate together, we were in the same group. It developed into a relationship and we decided to get married. You can put that more poetically if you want to," she laughed.Lois and Walter are both ushers at the Kean Theater in Gibsonia. "We work together, we are together all the time," she said."We respect each other, love each other. That's what's important," she said.Love also prompted George Rabold, 78, and Joyce, 61, both of Gibsonia, to get married in August."If you're lucky enough to find somebody, why shouldn't you love each other, care for each other and marry each other?" George said.The two met 11 years ago at the Faith Baptist Church in Mars. George asked Joyce's daughter if Joyce would want to date."She kind of worked it out," laughed Joyce, recalling their first telephone conversations and how George eventually asked her out.Now the two enjoy square dancing and attending church.George had been previously married for 13 years before his wife died. "If God puts you together, you really do become one. After losing someone, you really understand that that is true," he said."People have been very happy for us," said Joyce. "It truly has been a blessing."
