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How does love last a lifetime?

Area couples reflect on decades of marriage

Courtesy photos Emil and Linda LaFave, of Wilson, are shown in a family photo. The couple has been married for 54 years.

By Clarissa Kell

ckell@dailypress.net

ESCANABA — Although February has been filled with ice and snow, Valentine’s Day is warming hearts all around. What makes a loving relationship that lasts a lifetime? Two local couples who have been married more than half a century shared their experiences on the secret to long and happy marriages.

Dennis and Donna Gatien, of Spalding, recently celebrated their 59th year wedding anniversary. They married on Feb. 6, 1960, in the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, which is now the St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Powers.

“We married really, really young,” Donna Gatien said.

She explained they started having children right away, five in all — Denise, Dane, Dell, Danette and Dusty.

She said because they were so young when they got married and started having children, they sort of grew up with the kids.

“Thank God for parents,” she said. “We couldn’t have done it without my parents.”

Donna said there were rough years, but one of the secrets to a long marriage is to just flow with the good and bad.

“You learn to take the good with the bad,” she said. “And sometimes there is one more than the other.”

She noted keeping faith is another reason she attributes to her long marriage to Dennis.

“My faith is a big part of my life,” Donna said. She explained faith keeps their family strong.

Donna and Dennis have a total of five children and six grandchildren.

“Family is most important to us,” she said. She explained the best memories are of their grandchildren always being over at their house when the grandchildren were younger.

“I don’t know where the years go,” she said. “It doesn’t seem like its been 59 years.”

Emil and Linda LaFave, of Wilson, celebrated 54 years of marriage in July. They married on July 18, 1964, at the St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Escanaba.

Linda LaFave laughed when she described the last 54 years as “interesting.”

She explained they were only 19 years old when they married, turned 20 shortly after the wedding and then by 21 they started having children.

The LaFave’s have four daughters, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Linda explained their family is extremely important to them.

She said compromising is a major part to making a marriage last.

“Well you have to compromise — even if it gets bad you work your way through it. Things work out,” she said.

Emil said marriage takes a lot of giving in to make it work.

“I tried to say ‘yes ma’am’ as much as I could,” said Emil while chuckling with his wife.

He also added having respect for one another is another important aspect to a long marriage.

“That’s what I tell our grandkids a lot,” he said. “First you have to like yourself and respect other people. Then things will end up smoother and a lot better.”

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