By Bryan Bloodworth
BLOOMINGTON – As Valentine’s Day approaches, love is in the air at Westminster Village.
Jim and Henrietta (Hank) Phillips will be celebrating their 68th Valentine’s Day together Tuesday. Hank said she was preparing for her wedding day 68 years ago on Valentine’s Day.
“I was,” said Hank. “In fact, I think it was pretty much organized about that time.”
Jim said one thing has remained constant for the couple on Valentine’s Day through the years.
“We never really made a big deal out it,” he said. “Usually we didn’t do too much. We always went out to eat some place.”
Henrietta said tolerance has allowed the Bloomington couple to celebrate so many Valentine’s Days together and Jim, of course, agrees.
“You’re never always going to agree on everything,” he added. “You’re always going to have your disagreements. That’s to be expected. But you have to take it with a flow and wait for the next one. You have to just have a little respect.”
The Phillips admit they also share a love of chocolate and will likely be found dining out on Valentine’s Day.
Meanwhile, Ed Lundeen believes there’s something to Cupid and his arrow on Valentine’s Day. He said the arrow struck him and his future wife, Ginna, in 1951 while both were attending the University of Illinois. They were married the following year and have been together for 65 years.
“He proposed to me on the dance floor,” Ginna said.
Ed said he’s proud of himself as Valentine’s Day approaches this year. He admits he didn’t always remember it at times in the past.
“I already have a Valentine’s Day card,” he added. “I want you to know that being retired I have a little more time to act rather than just think about it.”
Ginna said she looks forward to Valentine’s Day because it rekindles a family tradition.
“I connect Valentine’s Day with children because they always had fun making Valentines,” she continued. “We encouraged that I guess. Three of our grandchildren live in Chicago and we got a continuum of Valentines and we’re still getting Valentines from them.”
Ed added that he learned something about Valentine’s Day at an early age.
“In the elementary school times when we shared Valentines, the boys were always trying to find ones that wouldn’t be necessarily be too nice for the girls,” he added. “And the girls took the nice ones very seriously.”
The Lundeens have nothing special planned for this Valentine’s Day, but chocolate will be involved.
Bryan Bloodworth can be reached at bryan.bloodworth@cumulus.com.
