57 years later, Leesburg couple renews vows
http://www.leesburgtoday.com/news/years-later-leesburg-couple-renews-vows/article_4f159904-98b2-11e3-bdf6-001a4bcf887a.html?mode=story
John and Marilyn Davis delighted staff members and friends at the Inova Loudoun Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Leesburg Monday when they renewed their wedding vows on their 57th wedding anniversary.
The couple entered the center in December and their son Kyle Davis, of Ashburn, and two siblings were with their parents to watch them renew their vows in a ceremony conducted by Pastor Cory Welch of the Purcellville Baptist Church.
Administrator Elizabeth Kaeser said John Davis brought up the idea of renewing their vows on their actual wedding date about three weeks ago, an idea that quickly gained traction, leading to today’s ceremony.
Both aged 75, the Davis’ were dressed for the occasion, she in a colorful print dress and he trim and smart in a formal suit. As they waited for the ceremony, John Davis detailed the couple’s peripatetic journey that finally ended in Leesburg. Although they have lived in all kinds of places over their married life, their moves over the past decade have taken them from Ohio to a townhouse in Ashburn, to Gainesville, to Florida, then to Georgia, and finally back to Loudoun last year. Along the way, John had a number of health problems, including a heart attack and a tumor on his spine that paralyzed him for some time. Now he’s learning to walk again.
The Davis’ started dated in high school. They got engaged their senior year, when they were both 18. “I bought her a diamond, and I asked her to marry me in the Methodist church sanctuary during Easter,” John said. Monday, Marilyn showed off the stones of that diamond ring, now reset in a different setting after the original band broke.
Then it was time for the simple ceremony. Welch spoke on marriage and devotion, citing the Davis’ “57 short, quick, awesome years,” and urging the couple to continue to “live a life of love” as he spoke of the mysterious way in which God can take “two hearts and make them one.”
John had written a love letter to his bride, which he recited to her before everyone. Then the couple, facing each other, recited the vows familiar to so many—pledging to “have and to hold,” for “better or worse,” “richer or poorer.” At one point, when Elizabeth stumbled a little over the words, Welch smiled and said, “After 57 years, John knows what you’re thinking.”
At the conclusion of the brief ceremony, Welch invited the couple to perform the traditional kiss—which they happily did.
John and Marilyn Davis delighted staff members and friends at the Inova Loudoun Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Leesburg Monday when they renewed their wedding vows on their 57th wedding anniversary in a ceremony conducted by Pastor Cory Welch of the Purcellville Baptist Church.
http://www.leesburgtoday.com/news/years-later-leesburg-couple-renews-vows/article_4f159904-98b2-11e3-bdf6-001a4bcf887a.html?mode=story
John and Marilyn Davis delighted staff members and friends at the Inova Loudoun Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Leesburg Monday when they renewed their wedding vows on their 57th wedding anniversary.
The couple entered the center in December and their son Kyle Davis, of Ashburn, and two siblings were with their parents to watch them renew their vows in a ceremony conducted by Pastor Cory Welch of the Purcellville Baptist Church.
Administrator Elizabeth Kaeser said John Davis brought up the idea of renewing their vows on their actual wedding date about three weeks ago, an idea that quickly gained traction, leading to today’s ceremony.
Both aged 75, the Davis’ were dressed for the occasion, she in a colorful print dress and he trim and smart in a formal suit. As they waited for the ceremony, John Davis detailed the couple’s peripatetic journey that finally ended in Leesburg. Although they have lived in all kinds of places over their married life, their moves over the past decade have taken them from Ohio to a townhouse in Ashburn, to Gainesville, to Florida, then to Georgia, and finally back to Loudoun last year. Along the way, John had a number of health problems, including a heart attack and a tumor on his spine that paralyzed him for some time. Now he’s learning to walk again.
The Davis’ started dated in high school. They got engaged their senior year, when they were both 18. “I bought her a diamond, and I asked her to marry me in the Methodist church sanctuary during Easter,” John said. Monday, Marilyn showed off the stones of that diamond ring, now reset in a different setting after the original band broke.
Then it was time for the simple ceremony. Welch spoke on marriage and devotion, citing the Davis’ “57 short, quick, awesome years,” and urging the couple to continue to “live a life of love” as he spoke of the mysterious way in which God can take “two hearts and make them one.”
John had written a love letter to his bride, which he recited to her before everyone. Then the couple, facing each other, recited the vows familiar to so many—pledging to “have and to hold,” for “better or worse,” “richer or poorer.” At one point, when Elizabeth stumbled a little over the words, Welch smiled and said, “After 57 years, John knows what you’re thinking.”
At the conclusion of the brief ceremony, Welch invited the couple to perform the traditional kiss—which they happily did.
John and Marilyn Davis delighted staff members and friends at the Inova Loudoun Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Leesburg Monday when they renewed their wedding vows on their 57th wedding anniversary in a ceremony conducted by Pastor Cory Welch of the Purcellville Baptist Church.