Seventy Years – Happily Everlasting

Marriage is a blessing, but to have spent 70 years married to your childhood sweetheart is an accomplishment of a lifetime that few are ever able to achieve.

While growing up in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, Tom and Mary Nash met in grammar school. Mary attended St. Vincent Ferrer School soon after her family moved from Bay Ridge. Tom was friends with her brothers, which is how Mary got to know Tom. The couple were married September 9, 1950 at St. Vincent Ferrer Church in Brooklyn.

After living in Brooklyn, they moved to Huntington in 1955, where they raised their two daughters and three sons. As the years passed, Tom worked installing hospital equipment, while Mary spent ten years as a secretary for a family court judge. Both spent many years volunteering for church and community organizations.

They still live in Huntington, and are parishioners at St. Francis Church, with Mary a member of the Third Order of St. Francis. They are blessed with fairly good health, 21 grandchildren, and each other’s company every day. Their daughter Nancy had asked Fr. Peter to pay a visit and bestow a matrimonial blessing on the couple in recognition of these 70 years together.

Their secret to a long and happy marriage? “Just take each day at a time,” said Mary. “I don’t know how else to put it. There are tough times sure, but that is life in general sometimes.” Tom added, “Happiness is the best part of being married. And compromise.”

As the eldest of 13 children, Tom spoke with experience. Both agreed an important factor is faith. “It’s everything,” said Mary. “And it makes a big difference when you share so much.” When asked for advice to give newlyweds, she repeated her secret. “Take each day as it comes. And be grateful.” Wise words from two people who have lived them.