Community Corner
Slow and Steady Love Wins the Race
Theirs is a love story about the importance of timing.
Cupid doesn't always smack a couple right between the eyes. Sometimes love is a rather slow progression, as is the case with Jay and Eileen Brosius. Eileen first laid eyes on Jay at her home in Oak Forest, Ill., in 1967.
Jay was a 19-year-old who drove a cool Charger, "the General Lee," and his best friend happened to be dating Eileen's sister. Eileen, who was a chubby 15-year-old at the time, had said to her mom, "Isn't Jay cute?" Her mom quickly replied that he was much too old for her.
Eileen continued to see Jay around town, especially at the Dog and Suds, the local drive-in hamburger joint. She started to slim down and was taking on more of a womanly shape. Jay would just tease her about how quiet she was.
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Eventually, the two ended up riding the same train to jobs in Chicago. Jay actually helped build the Sears Tower. Eileen would watch Jay flirt with pretty girls on the train while she ended up dating another man.
The growing romantic nature of their relationship revealed itself with a midnight kiss at a New Year's Eve party. Everyone at the party gave their significant other a kiss and then turned to others at the party to give quick congratulatory kisses. But Eileen and Jay's kiss lasted a little longer than was respectable. When her boyfriend came up and tapped her shoulder, Eileen told him that she wasn't quite finished.
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The rest is history and the couple married in 1970. They lived in Seattle briefly but once Jay was drafted into the Vietnam War, Eileen returned to Chicago. By 1978, together again, they decided they'd had enough weather after a horrible snow storm blew through Chicago. With three small children and $1,500, they headed to California.
Jay and Eileen have raised their five children in Dublin and just celebrated their 40th anniversary. When asked what the secret is to a long marriage, Jay said, "Just hang in there." Eileen said, "He makes me laugh every day, even when I don't really want to."
Put these two comments together and the secret is revealed — Hang in there through the bad times and laugh daily even when there doesn't seen much to laugh about. Great advice from a wise couple.
