Sentimental journey goes on
'I've never felt any different than I did on the first day we met'
PLATTSBURGH — The evening truly was made for dancing.
Leroy "Roy" and Eileen Smith were on their way home from a shindig.
"Neither of us had danced enough yet, so we just pulled over to the side of the road," Roy said, his bride of 69 years at his side, "and I took the radio right out of the car and set it on the hood.
"We danced there for so long that I wore a hole right in the bottom of my shoe."
It comes as no surprise that, in 1941, Roy and Eileen, neé Sullivan, met at a dance. They danced all night at the Malone Grange Hall, not parting ways until the band stopped for the night.
Later that evening, Roy told a friend, "See that girl I danced with? I'm gonna marry her someday."
'VERY LUCKY'
After being inseparable for the next year, he made good on his word. On Jan. 5, 1942, he married Eileen in a double-ring ceremony with their best friends, June McKinney and William Fitzgerald, as attendants.
Over time, they were blessed with seven children, 17 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. Even after all of this time, Eileen, 88, said that nothing has really changed.
"I've never felt any different than I did on the first day we met. He's always been so good to me and good to the children. I am very lucky."
Roy and Eileen remained inseparable, doing everything together, whether grocery shopping, housework or snowmobiling. For 30 years, they ran a dairy farm in Burke — Eileen even got her own tractor so they could work together.
Once, when her tractor was getting fixed, Roy let her borrow his new one.
"It had all the bells and whistles on it, just like a car. After she tried it, she didn't want to get back on hers," said Roy, who's 90. "She said, 'Can I just keep this one?' and I said, 'You can have whatever you want.'
"I still let her have whatever she wants."
LETTERS EVERY DAY
For Roy and Eileen, one of the secrets to a lifelong, happy relationship is the little things.
Early on, he was shopping with friends in Massena when a hand-embroidered dress caught his eye.
He said he marched right inside and said to the girl in the shop, "You're about the size of my wife — what size are you?"
He bought the dress and, for his two years of U.S. Army service in World War II, carried a picture of Eileen wearing it.
The photo, in pristine condition, sits at his bedside in his room at Meadowbrook Healthcare in Plattsburgh. How did it survive the war in such good shape?
"I put it in my duffel bag and wrapped it up in all of my clothes," Roy said.
Throughout their marriage, Roy and Eileen have been separated only twice.
World War II parted them from June 1944 to May 1946; and now, after surgeries for hip and knee replacements, Roy requires 24-hour care that Eileen is not strong enough to give him.
So he lives at Meadowbrook.
"We wrote letters every day when Roy was in the war," Eileen said.
"We never missed a day," he added.
But letters are not enough now.
'HAVE TO HUG'
One of the Smiths' daughters drives Eileen the hour from Burke to Plattsburgh three times a week, just for the chance to eat lunch with Roy and chat for a few hours.
"And we have to hug," Roy said. "We always have to hug."
Eileen wants to move into Meadowbrook with her husband, but space doesn't allow that right now.
They miss each other deeply.
"I used to wake up in the night at home and see she was up, so I would go sit on the couch with her, put my arm around her, and she would curl right up and go to sleep," he said. "I can't do that now."
"I wonder if I'm going to be able to get through this if they don't get us together pretty quick," Eileen said. "When you get older, it's hard to be separated after all of these years together.
"It's not fun. I would hide under the bed to stay here."
POLKA WITH A NUN
And though dancing is more a memory now, what a memory it is.
Folks would go to wedding receptions just to see them dance, said their daughter Madonna Smith.
One time, she organized a parents weekend dinner at Mater Dei College in Ogdensburg and asked Roy and Eileen to dance and get everyone started.
"It was rock 'n' roll music, but they got up and danced anyway," Madonna said. "Before you knew it, everyone was up dancing!" Madonna said.
"Even the nuns were dancing," Roy added. "I danced polka with a nun."
Roy and Eileen also loved to travel. After their 25th anniversary, they went on a road trip with Bill and June, the couple with whom they'd shared their wedding day. They visited 11 states, driving until they ran out of money.
LOVE
When Eileen was in labor with their first child, Roy was told that he could go to work for his overnight shift and come back for the birth in the morning. In his rush to get to the hospital, he trod heavily on the gas pedal and found himself trying to outrun a state trooper.
"I said to myself, 'I think I can get them all right,' and I left them right out of sight," Roy said.
"When I got to the hospital, Eileen had already had Mildred, but the trooper followed me right into the hospital. He tapped me on the shoulder and said, 'What kind of motor you got in that car? I had the trooper car right down to the floor, and you walked right away from me.'"
LOVE AND KISSES
Bottom line for the Smiths, it's love that cements a marriage.
"You've got to love them every day of the year," Roy said. "There wasn't a day that I didn't hug and kiss (Eileen). You've got to tell them you love them and mean it!"
Eileen's advice is to always try to work things out.
"You can't fight and argue about everything. Never forget that you are husband and wife and you love each other. If you love each other, you can work anything out."
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