THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 4, 1995 TAG: 9508040458
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAM STARR, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
Lloyd Hershberger is one shrewd spouse.
Even though he and his wife, Margaret, are celebrating their 75th anniversary today, he's waiting two more years to present her with the traditional gift of diamonds.
He wants to make sure she's not going to take off.
Given their track record, Lloyd has nothing to worry about. But when the couple married in 1920, neither dreamed their union would last longer than the life expectancy of the average American male. In these days of quickie divorces, their marriage seems even more remarkable.
Their secret to spending 27,375 days together in wedded bliss?
It's all give and take and compromise, 92-year-old Margaret says.
``He's not only my husband, he's my best friend,'' says Margaret, gazing lovingly at her mate. ``You have to take it one day at a time. I've learned a lot along the way.''
Lloyd, 93, has a more practical reason for their long-lived union.
``I keep my mouth shut,'' he says, laughing.
The courtship began in 1918 at the phone company in Norfolk, where 16-year-old Lloyd installed switchboards and 15-year-old Margaret worked as an operator. They didn't meet until a day that Lloyd was working by her station and ``making a lot of noise,'' Margaret recalls. Her blue eyes blazing, Margaret stood up to investigate. But she was caught off guard by the tall, handsome youth staring back at her. The indignation immediately turned into attraction.
``It was love at first sight,'' Margaret says, sighing. ``From the first time I saw him I knew he was mine. It was meant to be.''
She didn't know that Lloyd felt the same. When she returned from dinner, Margaret found a shiny red apple sitting on her desk. Lloyd asked her out the next day, starting a two-year courtship that culminated in marriage on Aug. 4, 1920.
They lived in South Norfolk and raised two children (one has died) before moving to Little Neck in 1950. Lloyd built a comfortable house, which the couple still live in, and sold plumbing and heating supplies until he retired in the early 1960s. Margaret was a past president of the Lynnhaven Garden Club and founded the Lynnhaven African Violet Society.
The couple observed their 75th anniversary a little early this year so that all family members could attend the gathering. Ten grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren and their spouses, as well as five great-great-grandchildren, helped the Hershbergers celebrate at Nick's Steak House last Saturday.
But there was no renewal of wedding vows or exchanging of gifts. The couple had already renewed their vows three times earlier and stopped exchanging gifts and cards years ago.
``We outgrew that,'' says Margaret. ``We always celebrated privately.''
The Hershbergers will probably spend today like any other day. They'll read the newspaper, watch television, talk and just be together, as they have been for 75 years. Lloyd, grasping his wife's hand as he rocks in a chair, says he would do it all over again.
``We made the right choice in the beginning,'' he says. ``The only advice I can give other couples is to love your spouse. And don't break their trust.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
MORT FRYMAN
Staff
Lloyd and Margaret Hershberger met at the Norfolk phone company in
1918. ``It was love at first sight,'' says Margaret. ``It was meant
to be.''
by CNB