Tag: Valentine’s Day

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News

Still together: Diamond anniversary for Afton couple

The Stantons celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary February 12, a milestone that fewer than 0.1 percent of married couples make. Mary Jane Gore

Valentines, imagine getting hitched this month. Then imagine celebrating your 75th wedding anniversary in February 2094.

A 75th anniversary is so rare that the U.S. Census Bureau keeps no statistics on it. Estimates are that fewer than 0.1 percent of marriages make it to 70 years or more, according to the University of Nebraska Omaha Center for Public Affairs Research.

Bill and Shirley Stanton of Afton, 94 and 93, respectively, are a rare couple indeed. Shirley Loving was born and raised in Charlottesville with her sister, Jean, who still lives here.

Bill Stanton is from Wisconsin, and the U.S. Army sent him to UVA for a meteorology class during World War II.

They married on February 12, 1944, a few months before D-Day. That same year, A Streetcar Named Desire hit the stage, and cooped chickens would be introduced in a Charlottesville courtroom during a dog’s trial (not guilty).

Shirley and Bill Stanton on their wedding day in 1944. Submitted photo

Here’s what the couple says about their 75-year bond.

How did you meet?

Bill: We met at a USO dance in Charlottesville; I cut in.

Shirley: We danced the whole time. Because I was a volunteer, I had to get permission to date Bill.

How did he propose?

Shirley: He was back in Charlottesville on furlough. After his class, we walked along to the Rotunda, and he pulled out the ring.

What is the best part of your long marriage?

Bill: It was all pretty good.

Shirley: We can’t complain.

What was the hardest or most challenging thing about being married?

Bill: (laughs quietly) Shirley, what do you think?

Shirley: We had a son die. We are very fortunate that nothing else that bad happened.

Bill: We worked hard.

Shirley: Everything we did was a challenge. We are so lucky to be in our home still, and it’s because we have a daughter and a grandson here to help us.

What is your secret to a long marriage?

Bill: Tolerance.

Shirley: Bill is very fair-minded. I can’t say I have taken advantage of it, but I have enjoyed it.

Categories
Living

We’ve all been there: the good, bad and crazy things we do for love

Love is patient, love is kind…or is it: Love tried my patience, love made me kind of wish I’d never swiped right on Tinder? In honor of the day when Cupid is known to strike (with some direct hits and some tragic misses), we conducted an unscientific reader survey in which we asked you to complete the phrase “Love made me…” From romances that made you travel the distance—thousands of miles in some cases—to those that made you thankful that you’re single, the main theme in everyone’s answers: Love makes us who we are. We’ll drink to that.

Love made me find a new life in Charlottesville <3

Caitlin Worrell/Facebook

Blind love made me elope in Lake Tahoe, sell my great house, buy a catamaran, break through an icy river in November and sail off to the Bahamas with a charming but completely self-centered rogue. It was right after September 11 and all I can say is I guess my guard was down and my heart was broken. The eight-month voyage was full of misadventures and fun and beauty and tears and grandeur and pain. As soon as we landed at Gangplank Marina in Washington, D.C., I kicked him off the boat, went to the magistrate and got a divorce ($84! Best expenditure of the year!). Then I proceeded to live happily on my boat there for three years. Was it worth it? Yes!

Charlotte Drummond/Facebook

Leave a city I was comfortable in and move back to my hometown. A place where I really didn’t have a good start. It was the love of/for my daughter that prompted me to move her closer to her maternal family, and it made me rethink my relationship with my family. In the end, love won, and we all are happily together these days!

Minervia Berry/Facebook

Move to another city. Then when my father-in-law passed away it made me move back so my husband could take care of his mother. What a wild ride!

Betty Davis Shiflett/Facebook 

Sell a house I’d bought only the year before, get married a second time and move to C’ville without a job…and not regret any of it!

Brenda Browning/Facebook

Love made me spend part of my winter in Detroit. That was a few years ago. Now I’m older, wiser and warmer.

Michelle Lynne/Facebook

Love made me realize that true peace and happiness comes from within, and not from the affirmation and affection of others.

Sarah Whitney/Facebook

So happy ^_^ And over 15 years later, even happier!

Lisa Sweet/Facebook

Spend 19 months dealing with USCIS [U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services].

Ronda Chollock/Facebook 

Love made me decide to be polyamorous.

Gretchen Burgess/Facebook

Almost move away from Charlottesville?!?!! Wha???

Caroline Mankins/Facebook

Stay in Harrisonburg another two years, adopt cats, change my whole world and write a thesis.

Emily Elizabeth/Facebook

Love made me love someone who didn’t love me back…

Justina Harris/Facebook 

Move 5.5 hours from home.

Deborah Christy/Facebook

Sleep like a baby…Priceless moment.

Avi Alvarado/Facebook

Made me decide to move to Charlottesville after 43 years of living in Lynchburg. Good move!!

Rene Ankney/Facebook 

Single and happy to be so!

Brenda Neckerman/Facebook 

Broke and crazy.

Matthew Paul Sissons/Facebook 

Forget who I am.

Terry Davenport/Facebook 

Marry a man I met at the mall!

Laura Brinkerhoff Young/Facebook 

Adopt A LOT of dogs!

Cindi Scott/Facebook 

A better person.

Deborah Christy/Facebook

Crazy!

John Webb/Facebook

Smoke pot.

James Spencer/Facebook

A better person.

Larry Saunders/Facebook

Who I am today.

Gayle Millner/Facebook

Move to C’ville!

Amanda Tesvich Brown/Facebook

Go on a bicycle tour.

Melissa Wender/Facebook 

Happy…for a while… <3

Laura Frances Conradi/Facebook

Itchy.

Lou Lombardi/Facebook

Love made [my husband] read Jane Austen! And love made him quit smoking!

Raennah Lorne/Facebook

Love made me move across the ocean with a 6-week-old to keep our family together. (It was either love or hormones…)  😉

Rachel Harris/Facebook

Stole a bunch of flowers from my school’s garden to give to my crush in elementary school.

Carl Carpenter/Twitter

Learn to be flexible and less rigid.

@llspot/Instagram

Move to Charlottesville while my fiancé is at Darden!

@shortce/Instagram

Love made me…move cross-country to C’ville.

@petesraven/Instagram

Love made me move 1,100 miles to be with a man I’ve been married to for 12 years now. Love made me find my life’s path and a home in Charlottesville.

@kijilinn/Instagram

Love made me.

Caitlin Peterson

Love made me end a relationship to get involved in a better one.

Max Bacall

Love made me want to buy a boombox to hold outside someone’s window. I forgot that it is the 21st century and I couldn’t find one cheap enough.

Paul Sanders

Love made me ask my doctor about Cialis.

David Johnson

Love made me have a picnic in a sewer.

Richard Elwell

Love made me very different than I’d thought I’d be.

David Reid

Love made me watch Game of Thrones.

Micaela Cameron

Love made me cook plenty of meals.

Jenna Delgado

Love made me buy a bunch of nice gifts and plan a trip to the Bahamas.

Terrence Smith

Love made me able to have an excuse to see the Alvin Ailey dance company.

Chris Staples

Love made me learn how to let go of my fears.

Julie Desperes

Love made me put my spouse ahead of myself every day.

Brian Moynihan

Love made me get married, have children and trust God.

Becky Mcallister

Love made me learn how to downhill ski.

Joel Lehman

Love made me drive thousands of miles.

Nicholas Leduc

Categories
Living

Valentine’s Day options abound

Arley Cakes’ heart is in the right place with these hazelnut oreos, available at Saturday’s Galentine’s Day pop-up show at Old Metropolitan Hall. Photo courtesy Arley Arrington

Whether you’re looking to toast to true love with a glass of wine, gaze into your lover’s eyes over a four-course meal or treat yourself to the best damn box of chocolates you’ll ever eat, there’s something yummy for you here in town, dear Valentine.

Get your fill

Start the sweet eating at the Galentine’s Day pop-up show at 9am on Saturday, February 11, at Old Metropolitan Hall, where you can find treats from Arley Cakes, Boof Brownies and La Vache Microcreamery.

Place your orders by 10pm on Sunday, February 12, to have a Cupid-on-wheels deliver six heart-shaped chocolate-chip scones and a handmade valentine to the sweetie of your choosing (and, yes, your sweetie can be yourself). All proceeds from the requested $20 donation go to Charlottesville Community Bikes, a nonprofit that promotes accessible, green transportation for all.

“You’re so sweet!” your love will exclaim when you hand over a box of handmade strawberry-glazed, chocolate-filled donuts from Miso Sweet. E-mail hello@misosweetcville.com to order.

Like an arrow from Cupid’s quiver, Grit Coffee in The Shops at Stonefield will launch its dessert-night menu on Valentine’s Day. Couples can pick one of two seatings—6:30 or 8pm—and fork over $30 for two desserts or two savory plates, two glasses of sparkling wine or espresso drinks and, according to the event’s Facebook page, “a special parting gift.” Reservations can be made online at gritcoffee.com/vday2017.

Gluten-free, heart-shaped brownies covered with ganache are in the cases at Albemarle Baking Co., and every Friday in February, the bakery will offer chocolate sourdough loaves.

Bring on the booze

From noon to 4pm on Saturday, February 11, Keswick Vineyards will couple its wine with desserts by the fireplace on the enclosed porch ($10-20 per person). E-mail tastingroom@keswickvineyards.com.

Whiskey- and chocolate-lovers can head to Lovingston for the Virginia Distillery Company’s Dram of Love Valentine’s Day celebration from 11am to 6pm on February 11 to sample Gearharts chocolates (including a special chocolate whiskey truffle made with the distillery’s Virginia Highland Malt). Code Fresh Food Truck will be on- site all day.

If you prefer wine with your chocolate, Horton Vineyards in Gordonsville and Lazy Days Winery in Amherst are doing wine-and-chocolate pairings on Saturday, February 11, and Cunningham Creek in Palmyra will do the same on Sunday, February 12.

Taste of true love

No sweet tooth? No worries. There’s plenty more eatin’ options.

If you’re feeling fancy, Veritas Vineyards and Winery offers a five-course, wine-paired winemakers dinner for $140 per person at 6:30 pm on Saturday, February 11—reservations and cocktail attire required (e-mail contact@veritaswines.com).

Chef Mark Gresge of L’etoile Catering will cook a Valentine’s Day brunch served at 11:30am on Sunday, February 12, at DuCard Vineyards ($59 per person, (540) 923-4206). Each course (such as lemon-ginger muffins with cinnamon cream cheese spread, and beef burgundy with roasted new potatoes and mushroom confit) will be paired with a DuCard wine.

A trio of Charlottesville Jazz Congregation musicians will serenade diners with jazz classics at Café Caturra on the Corner. Call 202-2051 to reserve your $60 prix fixe dinner spot.

The Alley Light is offering a three-course dinner at 5pm for $45 per person, or a $65 four-course dinner at 7 or 9pm, along with wine pairings, special cocktails and a few surprises. Call 295-5003 for a required reservation.

South Street Brewery has a prix fixe menu as well, for $38 per person. The menu promises beer pairings for each of three courses, which include warmed Brie with apricot jam, a mixed greens salad, grilled filet with oyster mushrooms and a red wine reduction over scalloped potatoes and asparagus or a veggie ragout over parsley garlic fettuccine, and a strawberry tart for dessert.

Buck tradition

If you’ve had it up to here with heart-shaped everything and want to flip the bird to the cheese-tastic Hallmark holiday, join fellow haters at Random Row Brewing Co. at 7pm on Valentine’s Day for live music, free sweets, “an aphrodisiac buffet” (their words, not ours), a piñata smash and a new Random Row beer, Oyster Stout.