Couples Are Testimony to Lasting Love

For Wardell and Eunice Charbonnet Sr., it was love at first sight.

But the former Teresita Tolentino believed only fools rushed into romance, and her young suitor, Ernesto Ramos, would have to work to win her heart.

And then there was Karl Aswart, who professed his undying love for his future bride, Cathy, while he was still in grade school.

These three couples--along with hundreds of others--gathered Sunday at St. John Baptist de la Salle Church to renew their wedding vows. The special Mass was celebrated to mark World Marriage Day 1999, a day honoring all married couples throughout the United States and many countries around the world.

World Marriage Day is celebrated each year in February and most often on Valentine’s Day, said Joan Vienna, director of the Office of Family Life of the Los Angeles Archdiocese, which has hosted celebrations for the past 28 years in the five pastoral regions that make up the archdiocese.

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony presided over the worship service, during which the couples received a commemorative ribbon and certificate. They were later feted at a reception in the church courtyard.

“There are many who say it is impossible to live in a committed relationship with the same person for 10 years, five years, or even two months,” Mahony said, getting a huge laugh from the congregation. “But you are proof that it is possible.”

The honored guests started arriving at the church nearly an hour before the 2:30 p.m. Mass began.

Howard and Cecilia Kainz of Camarillo, who were to receive special recognition from Mahony for nearly 68 years of marriage, sat side by side in wheelchairs at the front of the church and talked about what has kept them together for so long.

The couple met in 1928 while working at the Ducommun hardware store in Los Angeles.

Howard Kainz, 90, worked in the sales department and he would talk to Cecilia, 87, when he brought paperwork to her desk in the credit department.

“You like somebody and you can’t say why,” Howard said when asked what attracted him to his future bride.

“I liked that fact that he was kind and a nice guy,” Cecilia recalled. “He was somebody I wasn’t afraid to take home to my family.”

The couple dated for nearly three years before exchanging vows on Feb. 17, 1931.

How have they managed to hold their union together for nearly seven decades? “You have to understand each other, talk things out and never go to sleep mad,” Cecilia said.

On the other side of the aisle, the Ramoses were sitting among those couples celebrating their 25th anniversaries. The Panorama City couple said getting away from the children and spending time together alone as husband and wife is a key to longevity in any marriage.

Teresita Ramos said “faithfulness, understanding and caring” are virtues at the center of successful marriages.

The Charbonnets of Los Angeles said their Catholic faith and commitment to their family have kept their love alive for half a century. “Couples should stay close to Jesus,” Eunice Charbonnet advised. “He will help you with your marriage and your family.”

Likewise, Donald and Eunice Prideaux of Woodland Hills say togetherness has kept their 56-year marriage strong.

“You have to do everything together,” Donald Prideaux said. “The guy shouldn’t be at the ballgame, while the wife is at the mall. If I want a beer I can get one out of the refrigerator, not at the Knights of Columbus hall.”

The Aswarts of Hawthorne, who celebrate their silver anniversary this year, said they have weathered the highs and lows of being married.

Both suffer from cerebral palsy, a condition that has slowed Cathy Aswart’s speech and has left her dependent upon a wheelchair.

Still, when Mahony asked the couples to rise to repeat their vows, Karl Aswart stood and looked down into his wife’s eyes. Though her speech was slurred, Cathy Aswart pledged her love again, just as she had as a 6-year-old in grade school to her 7-year-old beau.