C
atholic
Herald
DIOCESE OF SUPERIOR
www.superiorcatholicherald.org Vol 151/Edition 2, 12 Pages Feb. 18, 2021
JENNY SNARSKI
CATHOLIC HERALD STAFF JSNARSKI@CATHOLICDOS.ORG
M
arriage is love, health, hard work and togetherness. Those words are how Ger- aldine Boziel, a parishioner at Holy Family Catholic Church in Woodruff, describes marriage. Geraldine and her husband, Ed, celebrated their 70th wed- ding anniversary on Nov. 18. The couple, who grew up in the same neighborhood in the Milwaukee area, has lived in Arbor Vitae since their retire- ment in 1984. One of their two sons lives in nearby St. Germain, and the other still lives near Milwaukee. It was a hot August night, Ed said, setting the scene for the irst time he asked Geraldine out. A group of neighborhood teens were at South Shore Park to swim. Eighteen years old and recently out of seminary high school, Boziel asked 17-year-old Geraldine if she wanted to go dancing. She abruptly said no, but as he returned from swimming, she approached him and asked if they could go see a show instead. Boziel described the Sunday night they went to the movies: She looked in my eyes, and I looked in hers, and that was it. Geraldine acknowledged it was love at first sight, while also expressing her own sense of initiative. The young couple dated for two years before marrying in November 1950, but Ed recount- ed how, while he was laying tile with his future father-in-law, Geraldine came up and an- nounced to them both, We're getting married Nov. 18. You never asked me, Ed repeated his reaction and Ger- aldine's response that followed - simply that she didn't have to - and they both laughed. The Boziels say they miss the simpler days of the past, the beautiful, peaceful country they were raised in, with different predominant values where family came first and marriage as a lifelong commitment was a given. Their love story is not without hardship. Not long after the cou- ple was married, Ed was called on the serve his country in the military and spent the next two years in Korea. Geraldine lived right near her parents and had a job to keep her busy, but Ed chimed in that it wasn't easy to miss two Christmases, two Thanksgivings and birthdays. Today, the means of commu- nication between servicemen and -women are nothing like back then. Letters were the spouses' only way to communi- cate, and when things changed while the mail was en route, there was no quicker form of up- dating information sent home. Boziel told his wife when to stop writing based on when he was expected to make his way back to the U.S. Wait and wait and wait was all Geraldine could do when two weeks had passed beyond the date her husband expected to return. You didn't get information like you do today, she said. It was suggested she ask the Red Cross for help, but they informed the young bride they didn't have any way of knowing where to try and contact Ed if he were en route. The two were reunited two weeks later, one full month past his scheduled arrival. The cause of his delay? Weather. What should have been a 12-day crossing, given it was January, took much longer - there were 60-foot swells and terrible, terrible storms, Boziel added. Sicker than a dog, he said, all they could do was pray, try to get some fresh air and
Ed and Ger- aldine Boziel , Arbor Vitae, are pictured with their family for the celebra- tion of their 70th wedding anniversary in November. (Submitted photo)
Valentines in good times and bad
Couple celebrates 70 years of marriage
CINDY WOODEN
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
VATICAN CITY - As Christians pray, fast and give alms during Lent, they also should consider giving a smile and offer- ing a kind word to people feeling alone or frightened because of the coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis said. Love rejoices in seeing others grow. Hence it suffers when others are anguished, lonely, sick, homeless, despised or in need, the pope wrote in his message for Lent 2021. The message, released by the Vatican Feb. 12, focuses on Lent as a time for renewing faith, hope and love through the traditional practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. And, by going to confession. Throughout the message, Pope Francis emphasized how the Lenten practices not only promote individual conversion, but also should have an impact on others. By receiving forgiveness in the sac- rament that lies at the heart of our pro- cess of conversion, we in turn can spread forgiveness to others, he said. Having received forgiveness ourselves, we can offer it through our willingness to enter into attentive dialogue with others and to give comfort to those experiencing sorrow and pain. The pope's message contained several references to his encyclical Fratelli Tutti, on Fraternity and Social Friendship. For example, he prayed that during Lent Catholics would be increasingly concerned with speaking words of comfort, strength, consolation and encouragement, and not words that demean, sadden, anger or show scorn,' a quote from the encyclical. In order to give hope to others, it is sometimes enough simply to be kind, to be willing to set everything else aside in order to show interest, to give the gift of a smile, to speak a word of encouragement, to listen amid general indifference,' he said, again quoting the document. The Lenten practices of fasting, almsgiv- ing and prayer were preached by Jesus and continue to help believers experience and express conversion, the pope wrote. The path of poverty and self-denial through fasting, concern and loving care for the poor through almsgiving and childlike dialogue with the Father through prayer, he said, make it possible for us to live lives of sincere faith, living hope and
Pope: Lent is time to grow in faith, hope, love
See POPE, Page 12 See BOZIEL, Page 12
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