Monday is Valentine’s Day.
It’s that time of year when the United States, and other places around the world, stops to celebrate love.
In celebration of Valentine’s Day, RadioRon Stelse has provided a reading of: “Why Do I Love You?” a poem published in anthologies during the 1920s and written by Mary Carolyn Davies, who was born in the late 1800s. There is no record of her death, but it is believed she died in the 1940s. Stelse has his own history with the poem, noting: “I heard it in 1968 while painting a farmhouse kitchen.” Stelse said he “fell in love” with the poem and the voice of Franklyn MacCormack, a radio personality on WGN Radio in Chicago, who read the poem on his overnight show.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Click the arrow above to listen to “Why Do I Love You?” read by RadioRon.
About the poem’s accompanying photograph: Donna and Bob Abel sit together at the Fort Atkinson Senior Center, where Donna serves as a volunteer. The couple will have been married for 55 years in May. When asked what makes for a happy and successful 55-year marriage, Bob offered a list: “patience, love, understanding and help.” The couple said they met at another couple’s wedding. “We were both in it,” Donna said. They were married in Fort Atkinson at the First Congregational United Church of Christ on May 27, 1967. Today, the couple has two married daughters — each with, Donna added, “wonderful spouses” –and four grandchildren.
What makes a successful 55-year marriage? Donna also had a list: “respect, laughter, togetherness, we went through a lot together. Bob had cancer, twice. You stick together through thick and thin.” But, she said, they each also have an individual life. “We don’t step on each other’s toes,” she said.
Kim McDarison photo.
About RadioRon: Ron “RadioRon” Stelse has worked within the radio industry for 45 years, including three years spent reading for the blind. He also worked with computers, from mainframes to PCs, and has taught a bit of tennis. He enjoys computer chess, watching public TV, tennis and working on audio projects. He has written over 600 poems. RadioRon is a resident of Fort Atkinson. File photo/Kim McDarison.
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