At Westminster Village, Valentine’s Day means more than pretty flower arrangements or cute sayings on candy hearts. It’s about celebrating a loved one in your life — whether it’s a spouse or best friend. Use this day to reminisce about memories you’ve made together, remember everything you appreciate about each other and make sure they know you care.

That kind of appreciative love is in the air every day at Westminster Village, and in honor of Valentine’s Day, I’d like to share two love stories from those who call our retirement community home!

Don Nead and Caryl Matthews

“Friends. Just friends. That’s all they were going to be.” So began a friend’s toast at Don and Caryl’s commitment ceremony — a jab at their insistence that they weren’t in love.

“Neither of us started out with that in mind,” says Caryl, 75, a former classical music program director for WBAA, Purdue University’s NPR affiliate. “But it’s often when you’re not looking that you find love.”

Don and Caryl have known each other for 30 years, their paths crossing at local performing arts events. In May 2010, Don’s first wife, Ginny, passed away. After some time, he sought someone to use season tickets he had purchased. Knowing of Caryl’s affinity for the arts, Don asked if she’d like to join him.

“She turned me down the first time,” says Don, 83, a former campus pastor at University Church at Purdue. “But our first ‘date’ was Vivaldi’s ‘The Four Seasons’ at Purdue Convocations.”

As Don and Caryl shared more “arts dates,” they recognized a romantic spark and Don eventually asked Caryl to be his life companion. After their commitment ceremony last October, they held a party with almost 200 friends here at Westminster Village! Caryl has since sold her house at Westminster Village and moved into Don’s house at Westminster, where she teaches piano students.

“A friend said, ‘If you can love once, you can love twice,’ ” Caryl says. “Don is one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. He’s very considerate of the life I brought with me and has a great sense of humor.”

“She makes me very proud to be her husband, especially seeing her work with kids,” Don says. “Caryl is very confident and capable, which are things I admire in a woman, and she’s at the top of the bracket.”

Raymond and Martha Graf

Raymond and Martha have a routine that will be the same tonight as the night they married in 1940.

“Before we go to sleep, we always give each other a kiss,” says Raymond, 96, who has lived with Martha at Westminster Village for almost 20 years, first in independent housing, now in our assisted living wing.

Raymond met Martha after she befriended his younger sister and he drove them to school. Martha used to sit in the rumble seat of Raymond’s 1932 DeSoto coupe.

“When we started dating, I graduated to the front seat,” Martha, 88, recalls with a laugh. “Raymond’s always been kind to me and put me first.”

In 1937, Raymond took Martha on their first date (to a roller-skating rink). And just a few years later, he was down on one knee with a diamond ring. The couple spent their professional lives tending their farm in Remington, where they raised chickens, hogs and cattle and grew grain, soybeans, corn and wheat.

After their retirement in 1972, the farm remained in their family and they moved to Westminster Village in the early 1990s. Prominently displayed in their living room are their 70^th anniversary photos — taken by the same photographer who filmed their wedding!

“People ask us how we did it, and I say that when we said ‘I do,’ we meant it,” Raymond says. “I couldn’t have found anyone any better than Martha. I’ve got an awful lot of love for her.”

“And that goes for me, too,” Martha says.

These are just a couple of the inspirational love stories we enjoy hearing every day at Westminster Village, and we wish a happy Valentine’s Day to everyone!

Posted by Dawn W., WV Blog Team