‘Love at first sight’: Couples renew vows in Las Vegas senior facility
Benjamin Saez met his “Dominican beauty” in a New York City church one Palm Sunday six decades ago.
“It was love at first sight,” he told a couple dozen people gathered to watch him renew his wedding vows with Isabel Saez on Valentine’s Day at a Las Vegas assisted living facility.
“A friend of hers introduced us,” he later said in an interview in his native Spanish.
He switched to English and joked: “I pulled her away from him.”
The couple was one of three who renewed wedding vows Monday afternoon at the Sterling Ridge Senior Living complex. The groom donned a suit and tie, his bride put on a white outfit and a peach-colored veil. Both wore wide smiles.
They first married six days before the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy in 1963, Benjamin Saez noted a couple times. That time, a photographer did not show up, so they had to wed twice in one day: the second time only to photograph the ceremony for their family.
On Monday, multiple photographers and attendees with cellphone cameras were on hand. Their two children, Orlando and Benjamin Jr. Saez also joined them.
Spry and in their best attire, the three couples made their way through a path paved with white rose petals toward the back of the facility’s dining room, which was decorated with artificial plants and a curtain of falling lights.
The Rev. Jeremiah Castorillo welcomed and thanked the “wonderful, wonderful couples today,” before he teased them.
“Is anyone opposed to this wedding,” he asked sarcastically amid laughter. “I’m just trying to make you laugh, because I see the guys are so nervous.”
The pastor motioned for them to “shake a little bit like this.”
“Get the exercise in,” one of the grooms, Jim Barben quipped. His wife, Goldie, stood close.
The couples were then instructed to turn to each other. Benjamin Saez gripped his bride’s hands.
David Bauer and Edith Vines-Bauer could not stand through the ceremony, but sat in chairs next to each other. The bride, who held a multi-colored bouquet, wiped away tears.
Castorillo explained the biblical history of marriage. He said that marriages survive through the “gift of love,” the “peace of Christ” and forgiveness, and flourish with gentleness, humility and kindness.
He asked if they vowed to love, comfort, honor, and stay together till death. All six said yes.
“What did you say, ‘no?’ ” the pastor teased them again.
The couples then smooched.
The ceremony was sponsored by Las Vegas businesses that donated gowns, tuxedo rentals, flowers, and a wedding cake discount. A flower shop donated corsages, according to the housing facility.
Iconic love songs by Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole played from a boombox. White and pastel pink balloons adorned the walls.
The Saez family posed for photos. Orlando Saez surprised his parents by making a last-minute trip from Chicago.
Castorillo approached their table before the ceremony and asked the elder Benjamin if he was nervous. “No,” he answered confidently.
Benjamin Saez Sr. said his mother had reservations when he first got with Isabel, but that it did not take her long to treat her daughter-in-law as her own kin. The elder woman would call his wife “su santa,” which translates to “her saint.”
Asked for his secret to a lasting marriage, Benjamin Saez credited the couple’s strong Catholic faith.
From 1970 to 2000, they lived in his native Puerto Rico, where they owned a business manufacturing children’s clothing.
They moved to Chicago with one of their sons, before relocating to Las Vegas four years ago with their other son. They have been residents at the senior living facility since May.
After the ceremony, the couples headed back down the rose-petal pathway among clapping by residents and loved ones.
A duet arrived and began to perform.
Jim and Goldie Barben were first on the dance floor.
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com. Follow @rickytwrites on Twitter.
