50 years and more: Celebrating marriage

More than 100 people met for worship and lunch at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in St. Paul Park on June 8. Most of them were or had been married for 50 years or more.

Ed and Mary Fleege of St. Paul Park have been married almost 52 years. “The second 50 are more peaceful,” Ed Fleege said. “You appreciate your spouse more.”

Mary Fleege said, “You stick to it because you made a commitment. You stay through the hard times and finally learn you must take people for who they are.”

On Sunday, June 13, Jim and Glenna Lence of St. Paul Park were married 61 years. Jim said the secret to a long marriage is to realize “you don’t know everything.”

Glenna said marriage is give and take. “You kind of grow up together. We had five children and you do what you have to do; the rest waited.

“I wouldn’t give it up for anything,” she said. “You grow to be good friends.

The lunch, an annual celebration at the church, was catered by Tinucci’s Restaurant in Newport and Woodbury. Kowalski’s Market in Woodbury donated the cake.

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