Happily ever after
Deirdre Newman
One billion, 452 million, 643,200 seconds -- that’s how long Paul
and Bonnie McKinzie have been married.
Thursday, they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary -- 50
years to the day after they were married -- along with 13 other
couples who have all been married 50 years or more during the Senior
Golden Wedding Ceremony on the Heritage Stage at the Orange County
Fair.
“It always seemed like a point that was impossible to reach,”
Bonnie McKinzie said. “You didn’t think you’d live so long.”
The ceremony took place in front of the couple’s close family and
their extended family as the two McKinzies volunteer year-round at
Centennial Farms.
Edmund Werner, chaplain at Orangewood Juvenile Home, presided over
the ceremony, looking spiffy in a top hat and tails. The couples
renewed their vows, sipped some bubbly and sang along to “Let Me Call
You Sweetheart.” Some even waltzed around the stage.
“Here’s to your continued love,” said Werner as he toasted the
couples. “May you be an inspiration to each other and many others as
you travel life’s highway.”
The couple with the most longevity -- 71 years -- has been
outlasting other long-wedded couples for the past five years. Kathryn
and Harry Rathbourn still delight in each other’s company, whether
it’s re-exchanging their vows or competing in the grapefruit bowling
contest, which they did soon after.
Their secret to seven decades of matrimonial bliss?
It depends whom you ask.
“You give more than you get,” Harry Rathbourn said.
“Communicating,” his wife insisted. “We don’t keep any secrets
from each other.”
The ceremony was inspiring to Wilma and Robert Davenport, who have
been married for a mere 41 years.
“I thought it was tremendous,” Wilma said. “They have a good
attitude and look happy. They’re willing to love one another still.”
Only 283 million, 824,000 seconds until the Davenports can join
the golden wedding ceremony.
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