Couple offer keys to wedded bliss, longevity
I wrote this feel-good story on an Attleboro couple this week for The Sun Chronicle
of Attleboro, MA. It appeared in the Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023, edition of the paper.
The story provides a good break from the drumbeat of negative news stories that
inevitably dominate the news cycle.
Photos of the couple --- who have been married for 67 years and who both are 90
and in good health --- appear with the story on the newspaper’s website at: https://www.thesunchronicle.
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In our fast-paced, tweet-a-minute news environment where some national stories,
at times insufficiently vetted, are posted to social media under the guise of
“breaking news,” stories such as this one are often overlooked.
That’s a shame, because this story can do something that many of those more
serious ones can’t do: Lift your spirits and renew your faith in the human
condition. This story will not only do that, but it will also make you feel
better about the world, and make you smile.
The Sun Chronicle learned about this story thanks to Patti Waitkevich, of
Plymouth, a second cousin of Marion Potter, who’s lived in Attleboro since 1996
with her husband Richard. Patti said Marion’s mother was her great aunt. Patti
said she’s been friends with the Potters since she was 30 (she’s now 62).
Patti, in a note to the paper, described the Potters thusly:
“A remarkable couple, still living in their own home with so much zest and
passion for gardening. It is breathtaking to view their beautiful flowering
landscape, including a small pond on their property (at 28 Sheffield Road) that
attracts everything from birds and ducks, to deer, fox, and one year a coyote
family.”
That --- and especially the fact that the Potters celebrated their 67th
wedding anniversary June 30 and that Richard today (Friday, Aug. 4, 2023) becomes
a nonagenarian, joining Marion, who turned 90 Jan. 8 --- inspired me to chat by
phone with them about a few topics.
1. Their longevity
Both pointed to staying healthy and active as keys to living a long life.
“We are very thankful that the both of us have had good health. We have our
minds about us, too,” Marion said. “We really have a lot to be thankful for,” adding
she particularly attributes the couple’s longevity to staying active.
“If you don’t move it, you lose it,” Marion added, pointing out that “may be a
simple saying, but it certainly has 100 percent validity to it.”
Richard added that genetics had a lot to do with their being a decade away from
becoming centenarians. “Longevity had to be in my genes,” he said, saying his
mother lived to 97, while Marion’s father lived to 102 and her mother lived to
94.
2. Their long marriage
The couple, who never had any children, were married on a warm, sunny day in
1956 at the South Walpole United Methodist Church. Marion recalled that the
reception was held at her parents’ house.
The teenage sweethearts met at church. “We dated for a couple of years in high
school, then a couple of years after high school and then he was in the Army
for three years,” Marion said.
Richard went into the Army in April 1953 during the Korean War, but he never
saw action in Korea. He split his time between the States and Germany and he
vividly recalled his last assignment. He said he was a staff sergeant and had
to travel with 600 prisoners aboard a ship back to the United States that broke
down in the Atlantic in 100-foot seas.
What’s the key to a long marriage?
“It’s give-and-take,” Richard said. “That’s all. The younger generation doesn’t
give and take.”
Marion said staying together depends on sharing similar interests, and tolerance.
It’s important to “respect the other person,” she said, as well as “being
faithful.”
3. Their careers
Both had long careers. Richard was a contractor-builder and said he worked for
four to five different contractors as a superintendent. He remodeled many of
the high-rise office buildings in Boston, he said, as well as many other
structures, including rest homes, schools and post offices.
After living in Michigan for a while, the couple moved to Norfolk, where Richard
served as a selectman in the mid-to late ’70s for about six years, four years
as chairman. When he moved to Attleboro, he was active with the Attleboro
Historic Preservation Society, where he helped fix up the Academy Building.
Marion was a secretary for the Norfolk school system for more than 25 years at
the Freeman School, which is now the Freeman-Kennedy School.
Now, both stay active with their gardens. Marion joked that Richard works all
spring protecting his vegetable garden from rabbits and other wildlife, while
she concentrates on planting flowers.
4. Animal lovers
While they’re forced to fend off bunnies from their respective gardens, they both
adore animals, especially dogs and cats.
“If I won the lottery, I think I’d probably spend most of it on pets,” Marion
quipped, adding: “But I don’t play the lottery, so I won’t have to worry about
that.”
5. Richard the builder
Richard, meanwhile, is still a contractor; for example, he said he’s built birdhouses
and a wood duck house.
“I do my projects in the wintertime in the basement,” he said, while also
working on home repairs. “I just finished my back steps and now am working on
my rear steps to my basement,” he said.
Although Richard is turning 90 today (Friday, Aug. 4, 2023), Patti Waitkevich
said a surprise party to celebrate both their anniversary and Richard’s 90th
was held July 25 at the Norton home of Richard’s niece Gail Cannata and her
husband Ronnie.
Today (Friday, Aug. 4, 2023), Richard Potter will celebrate, weather
permitting, by working in his beloved garden. So, if you see him toiling away,
wish him a well-deserved happy birthday.
Larry Kessler, a retired Sun Chronicle local news editor, can
be reached at larrythek65@gmail.com. He blogs at larrytheklineup.blogspot.com
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