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Show O Y i. .J New Utah - Thursday, February 5, 2004 - Page 12 Still sweethearts after 72 years at rail 5wensor)s have seen many changes through their life together By D. Savage-Blackhurst In 1922, 12-year-old Audrey Davis of Lehi attended the second annual Pleasant Grove Strawberry Days Festival held at the city park. While she was there one of her girlfriends, Donna Olpin, introduced her to a young man by the name of Blaine Swenson. Blaine, a farm boy from Manila never forgot the pretty little brunette. Four or five years later when he ran into her again at a social gathering with a bunch of friends, Blaine was eager to become reacquaint-ed. reacquaint-ed. The two courted for the next five years and on Nov. 26, 1932, Blaine and Audrey , were married. Last November, the Swensens celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary surrounded by family and friends. At 92 and 93 years old, the Swensens have one of the longest marriages in Pleasant Grove. When asked for the secret to their success, Audrey said, "We never once, during our whole married mar-ried life, did we ever mentioned men-tioned the word 'divorce.'" Prior to their marriage Blaine worked hauling ore up the American River Canyon while Audrey attended LDS Business College Col-lege and worked for Utah Woolen Mills and Mutual Creamery. "We were married during the depression but we have never been depressed after saying pur vows," said Audrey. Once they were married, the two decided to join forces. They opened the Wasatch Cafe and ran it together for six years. Today Walkers on the border of Pleasant Grove and Lindon occupies the site of the old Wasatch Cafe. After Blaine was drafted into the air force, they closed down the cafe and Audrey worked at United Concrete Pipe. Blaine was overseas for the next three years. He supported Pat-ton's Pat-ton's army through the Battle Bat-tle of the Bulge while Audrey waited for him patiently back home. When Blaine was discharged, dis-charged, he returned to Pleasant Grove where he and Audrey opened a Grocery Gro-cery and Meat Market at a location on Main Street where an antique shop is located today. They worked at that for six years, then Blaine hired on with USS Steel where he worked for over-25 years before retiring. Over the course of their life together, Audrey and Blaine have been active in the Pleasant Grove civic affairs and the LDS Church. For many years Blaine was a volunteer firefighter, a charter member of the Lions Club, Elk Club and Riding Club. He served on the Pleasant Grove City Planning Commission, surveying sur-veying with L.V. Beckman. He also served for three years in the LDS church welfare program. Audrey always loved teaching, especially young people. She served as secretary secre-tary of the stake M.I-A. and Spanish extractor. She also spent 15 years as historian for the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers organization. Blaine and Audrey are the proud parents of Thar-ma Thar-ma Winters of Lehi, and the late Marlow Cole of Pleasant Pleas-ant Grove, and foster parents par-ents to Mary Etsitty Platero' of Montazuma Creek, Utah. Their posterity has Blaine Swenson grown over the years to include seven grandchildren, grandchil-dren, 10 great-grandchildren, five foster grandchildren grandchil-dren and six foster greatgrandchildren. great-grandchildren. Today Audrey and Blaine still live in their own home in Pleasant Grove. Although Blaine has suffered suf-fered some health problems, Audrey is as spry as ever. According to her neighbors, she still exercises every day and is as sharp a dresser as she was when she was (an 1 b3 'n), . I del 3 Da 'ood ;nt ( ,o tr. ' Ne ! ha vrch dot .;, Sw '.j.H lica Audrey!, wh; young da pi..-." non sealed ; ' S( tioE et T i When K people : their zJco lasting. i.airy advice: zrea togoirv.-e t ideafelts! spirit of 5 lotofpru)rC ted to rr La the sur; How to survive romantic day as a single Lai r ri Rec Valentine's Day - a day of exchanging flowers, cards, and loving sentiments senti-ments punctuated with warm feelings of admiration, admira-tion, affection and infatuation. infatua-tion. But for millions of Americans, there is one . thing preventing them from J participating in these celebratory cele-bratory acts of love: a date. Being dateless on Valentine's Valen-tine's Day can evoke feelings feel-ings of loneliness and self-doubt, self-doubt, especially for those who are believers in the mythology of true love. Embedded midway through the frosty season of winter, it is portrayed in the media, particularly in relentless flower, fragrance and jewel- ry advertising, as the singular singu-lar day of year set aside for love, romance and passion. But what is a person to do when he or she is feeling the chilling blues of being single instead of embracing the fiery desire of love? Dr. Laura S. Brown, professor pro-fessor of psychology at Argosy UniversitySeattle, offers tips on how single guys and gals can celebrate Cupid's Day, instead of being defeated by it. "Love is not about a particular day, or about cards, flowers, or even being in a relationship. relation-ship. The illusion that coupled cou-pled people are happy and well-loved can feed feelings of loneliness or isolation for people who aren't with someone, and wish they were," said Brown. "Seeing the illusory nature of this holiday can be the first step in feeling better about being precisely who and where you are." According to Brown, the most important message that singles should remember remem-ber on Valentine's Day is that love is not just for couples; cou-ples; it is for all of us. The following are more ways that single men and women can enjoy Valentine's Valen-tine's Day without worrying about the pressures and pitfalls pit-falls that often come with the holiday: 1. Do not define yourself by your relationship status. Your relationship status is not your identity. 2. If you are single because of a recent loss, allow this to be a day of grieving. Do not pretend that it's not a hard day. Get support and sympathy. 3. Realize that Valentine's Valen-tine's Day is a commercial holiday. It is not about love and relationships; it is about selling flowers, candy, and diamond jewelry. Think of all the money you are saving. 4. Plan well in advance to do something that will not place you in the path of billing and cooing couples. Even if you usually like dining din-ing out alone, do something else on Valentine's Day. 5. Get together with people peo-ple who do love you -friends, family members, the people who already have relationships with you. 6. If you are single and you don't want to be, start now to think about what is in the way of you creating the relationship you want. Find ways to work on becoming the person your dream partner would fall in love with. Start therapy. Take up yoga. Begin to volunteer. vol-unteer. Create art. Make meaning. Act to change the world. It is into the fullest lives that love is most likely to fall. 7. If you are single and you like it, now is the time to affirm your choice. People who never marry or partner have close, loving, emotionally emotion-ally intimate relationships and lives worth living. Do not let a couple-driven culture define your choice as something wrong. More information is available on the. Argosy University Web site at www.argosyu.edu. Courtesy of ARA Content Dr. Laura Broun is a clinical psychology professor profes-sor at Argosy University Seattle, a former syndicated radio talk show host and on-site psychologist psycholo-gist for "Survivor: The Australian Aus-tralian Outback.' For more information, contact Mark Toth at (412) 995-7263 or mtothedmc.edu. Heart Assocfe offers tips for f number- the ah heart d b:r numben fcr, factors'::: at risk t Your ri: whenyr.: o onerisii"" - re . o ::Jrcat '7 (cJioeelhearl lo a Jahulous (flight Gul! our 17ITKI THE JOE MUSCOUIIO BAUD f-A -- r- - ADYRXCE TICKETS: dz per couple Rewinm Sertni DAY OF TICKETS: $60 per Couple Beirvd Seating ticketmaster Tkkeh ovailablt at all TKlnimno.. tLi. Including Thanksgiving Point, Frad Mmr ini r UIL-I. rn i ' ' uiy nnaie .u ar marge by phona at 801 32S-SEAT 01 www.tkklmaitr.om Dinner Dancing Giveaways Saturday, February 14, 2004 Sfton Cam 7:00nrn-10:00nsn . 1 TCPTTTi 17TH7TT f L . MTT NW f Vmjf AiMmm irfUii' 'iL'il i ii I i in" In a VT' VT' XT' 'T' vY' vV' vV' vv vv iff' V iff V V When it comes to heart disease risk factors - like high blood cholesterol and high blood pressure - one plus one can equal three, five or even nine times higher risk. Adding risk factors fac-tors can actually multiply the risk. Individuals can't change some risk factors, like their age or family history. But they can change others, like high cholesterol. That's good news. Here's more good news: The American Heart Association Associ-ation offers a free program called The Cholesterol Low Down that can help you learn about your risk for heart disease. The program urges you to do three things to help protect your heart: Visit your doctor. Even if you feel healthy, see your doctor regularly. Make an appointment to talk about heart disease risk. Know your cholesterol 1 terol is should tWl' listed bi? J ority to onesvr:s ( heart dis-- foods creams' m -Ess V7 vW O. Share the love. v V v Telefloro's Red Hots Bouquet V.1 S -i i Telefloro's Ghirordflli' Bear Bouqwet furpr Telefloro's Roses ond Ihoco ntfi Rnnmint U.. r 1 1 ..... . 1 neias & Rara Chocolates . Valentine's Day Balloons Plush Animals Delivery from lehi to Provo, Eoql. Mountain ond Saratoga SpS' mJL r 7. 44S f Cl . r I Vl7S IT. . iuic j i. w ampnmn rnri J"" .T..v..r.,T..v. ...... |