A Client Love Story for Valentine’s Day
Priscilla and Edward Pfannkuche have a marriage that has aged well like a fine wine. Just nine days after Valentine's Day, Priscilla and Edward will celebrate their 43rd wedding anniversary.
When the couple was asked, “How do you do it? How does marriage last that long?” Priscilla and Edward shifted into a thoughtful, reflective mode. The responses were full of wisdom, having been forged during the fire of life’s challenges.
- “Couples need to learn how to give and take, find common ground.”
- “Couples have to come to agree on such things as raising children; there is compromise.”
- “One thing to remember is that tough times never last, but tough people do.”
- “Don’t jump ship when things become difficult.”
Because it is such an important point to them, Priscilla, 79, and Edward, 88, elaborated on the last observation. “A couple should work through problems, solve them and make their lives better. Marriages should not be thrown away – it is a bad idea. The bottom line is, don’t give up. The idea of the grass being greener on the other side of the fence is wrong,” said the couple, who have received Caregiver help from Home Instead in Elk Grove Village for about a year.
“Furthermore, life experiences were modeled by our parents. In my case, my parents were married for nearly 68 years. Family meant so much to our parents’ generation, and our generation took up the torch. It’s not so easy nowadays. There are lots of elements in society that are trying to destroy the family unit. There is a war on families, but couples must stick together,” Priscilla said.
Priscilla and Edward met while both were working for the same governmental contractor. Edward worked for the company for 40 years, and Priscilla was with their employer for six years. She was the secretary for a programming manager, and he was an electrical engineer. Edward was a Marine from 1950 to 1954, serving in the Korean War aboard the USS Rochester, a cruiser. He also was in the U.S. Naval seabee reserves for almost 19 years.
The advent of COVID-19 in January 2020 has put a damper on Valentine’s Day outings for three straight years. Priscilla said: “We have no special plans for Valentine’s Day. Not many of our favorite restaurants are still open since COVID-19 struck. We’ll have a nice dinner at home and enjoy a bottle of champagne. The real blessings is that we have stayed healthy in the midst of the pandemic. We are vaccinated and boosted. We are extremely careful.”
