Happy 75th Anniversary, Doris & Bernie!
We tend to honor and celebrate enduring marriages by equating them to precious metals such as silver for a 25th anniversary and gold for a 50-year marriage. But there are metals more valuable than gold and silver and, when we observe the following anniversary, only the most precious metal, palladium, fills the bill.
First Date
Bernie and Doris Leibowitz went on their first date, a blind date, on a Saturday, in 1940. They attended a movie starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Bernie was immediately smitten with Doris and he called her for a second date the following Saturday. At the time, both were living in West Philadelphia.
“I thought she was stacked up pretty good, she weighed 118 pounds, she was 5-foot-6 tall, built beautifully, beautiful face. It was easy to fall in love,” Bernie recalls.
Doris, who was 17 at the time, adds her thoughts, “I thought he was nice and I wanted a steady Saturday night date.”
A Lifetime
Bernie and Doris continued with those Saturday night dates and more for two years until 1942. That’s when Bernie went into the Army and was deployed to the South Pacific theater. Whenever he had the chance, Bernie would write home to Doris and many of those love letters she has kept over the years. After his discharge from the military, the couple married 75 years ago on March 29, 1946. They happily resided in West Philadelphia, and raised their children, Stuart and Susan. Bernie worked in the flooring business and retired just a few years ago.
Life at Seashore Gardens Living Center
These days, Doris and Bernie are comfortably living at Seashore Gardens Living Center in Galloway. They both recently got their second COVID-19 shots and patiently await the pandemic restrictions to be lifted.
Not many people are familiar with palladium, which is many times more expensive than gold. But, when you observe a still-happy marriage that has lasted 75 years, Bernie and Doris Leibowitz’s marriage certainly qualifies for the palladium recognition.
