Jean Saperstein Finkle recalls the moment she met her soon-to-be husband as if it were yesterday, even though it happened more than seven decades ago.
“I was walking down the street in Trenton with my stepmother. I was 18 years old. A handsome man, he looked like Gene Kelly, walked up to me and started talking to me,” Mrs. Finkle said.
Her stepmother was immediately suspicious. Standing on the sidewalk with her arms crossed against her chest and with fire coming from her eyes, Mrs. Finkle recalled, her stepmother demanded, “Who are you?”
The man, Sid Finkle, who was destined to become the younger woman’s husband, turned to the older woman and said evenly, “Who are you?”
“My stepmother grabbed my arm and pulled me down the street to my uncle’s restaurant. We were going to get lunch for my father. I was standing there with my hands on the counter, when a man came up behind me and put his hands on each side of mine,” Mrs. Finkle said.
Mrs. Finkle’s uncle noticed what had taken place and as soon as he challenged Finkle – “What are you doing with my niece” – the man left the restaurant, but not his pursuit of the attractive young woman.
“Sid just didn’t give up. I was a young 18-year-old and he was 27. They tried their best to keep us apart, but it didn’t work,” said Mrs. Finkle. She is 89 years old and Mr. Finkle is 98 years old.
The Finkles, who will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary on Oct. 31, were among five couples who renewed their wedding vows at the Brandywine Living at Pennington assisted living facility last week.
The wedding vow renewal was one of many activities at the facility, held in recognition of National Assisted Living Week, which was Sept. 9-15.
National Assisted Living Week begins on National Grandparents Day. This year’s theme was “Capture the Moment.” It is all about honoring and celebrating life, said Ellen Moyle, Brandywine Living at Pennington’s executive director.
The week began with “Born to be Wild,” which was an exhibit of residents’ baby pictures. Tuesday was “School Day” and Wednesday was “Work Day.” On Thursday, the five couples renewed their wedding vows.
Lauren Strang, the activities director, received a certificate that allowed her to be an officiant at the wedding vow renewal ceremony. Following the ceremony, the couples and the other residents headed for the wedding reception, complete with a wedding cake and champagne, in the dining room.
But back to the Finkles.
“There were so many women who were after him,” Mrs. Finkle said. “When the announcement of our engagement was made in the newspapers, a girl called him and asked him whether he was sure he wanted to marry me. I was in awe of him. He was just so handsome, he went right to my heart. I don’t know what he saw in me, but I am so thankful for it.”
Finkle was quick to answer his wife’s question.
“She was different. I saw a lot of women all over the world, but I picked her,” said Finkle, who served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
Asked for the secret to a long marriage, Finkle said he would do anything for his wife. Being truthful and never lying to his wife is key, he said.
“Love just covers it all. Forgive and forget,” Mrs. Finkle said, adding that she does not remember ever having a fight with her husband.