Frame of Mind 2/28/07 Matrimony

The three happy couples stood together, hand-in-hand, as the aptly named Judge Noreen Love led them through a renewal of their vows.

“Remember that a happy marriage means two souls, but with a single heart,” Love said. “Two hearts beat as one.”

The audience witnessing the renewal of vows sat at round tables at the Bellwood Senior Center, silent except for the occasional scraping of a chair against the tile floor.

One woman in the audience dabbed at her eyes with a tissue, tucking it into her sleeve. Among the couples renewing their vows Feb. 20 were Dolores and Jacob Jindela of Cicero. Married in 1965, they celebrated their 42nd wedding anniversary
Feb. 20.

Dolores saw the vow renewal advertised in the center’s bulletin, she said, and realized the ceremony was taking place on their anniversary. They decided to take part.

The couple met at St. Peter’s social club in Chicago.

“You thought I was cute at that time,” Dolores joshed her
husband.

Dolores didn’t know how to dance the cha-cha, Jacob said, so he took it upon himself to teach her.

“I wanted him to feel important, so I let him teach me the cha-cha because it was the one dance I didn’t know,” she said.

They met in April. Magic hit in May, Jacob said, while walking in Grant Park near Monroe Street. They were supposed to be making flowers for the social club. Instead, they spent the day walking in the park.

They were engaged in September.

“I told my wife, I know what your answer is going to be, but would you marry me,” Jacob said.

“That was pretty nervy,” his wife chimed in.

-Chris LaFortune

Frame of Mind 2/21/07 Golf Club

Chuck Hayes of Elmwood Park, at right, listens to instructions from his younger brother Bob while golfing Feb. 15 with seniors from Elmwood Park in the golf dome at White Pines Golf Club in
Bensenville. Bob Hayes brings tips he learns from watching the Golf Channel to help his game. “(I watch) from 10 in the morning ’til my wife comes home at 4, then I put on the cooking channel,”
Hayes said.

Frame of Mind 2/14/07 Cupid's Arrow

Cupids arrows fly, mysterious and unseen, bringing people like Calvin and Jane Netter together.

It was Aug. 15, 2006, and Calvin Netter had just moved into Holley Court Terrace in Oak Park. Calvin was upstairs, waiting to go to eat dinner.

“I saw this beautiful girl walking down the aisle and I asked her to join me for dinner,” he said.

Jane Hockstein thought that would be fine, though she was waiting for a friend.

“He thought it was a male friend,” she said. “It was really a girlfriend.”

And so, the three went to dinner together. After, Jane invited Calvin to watch the televisionnews at her place, since his television wasn’t hooked up yet. “We’ve been watching the news ever since,” she said.

Jane and Calvin married Jan. 13 at Holley Court Terrace where they met. Both are in their early 80s, both on their second marriage. And so far, life for the newlyweds has been wonderful, Calvin said.

“To have someone to help take care of each other,” he said. “That’s what’s important.”

-Chris LaFortune

Frame of Mind 2/7/07

With the reds, yellows and blues from the DJ’s lights rotating around the room, Melissa Broz danced as if she were in the spotlight.

Each song the DJ played, she seemed to know the words.

“Greased Lightning” pumped from the speakers, and Broz not only mouthed the words, but mimicked John Travolta’s dance routine. Travolta, Broz said, is the best. The dance scene, she had it memorized. Broz enjoys dancing, to say the least.

“Because it gets me moving,” the Franklin Park resident said.

-Chris LaFortune