On Sunday, Dec. 5 1943, Floral Park couple Irving, 92, and Lynne Kasarsky, 89, exchanged their marriage vows. Now, 70 years later, they often reflect on their long journey together.
Irving recalls the day he met Lynne like it was yesterday.
“I was around 20 years old, and I went to my friend’s party,” he said. “During the party, I sat down and looked across the room. That was the first time I saw her, and I thought, she isn’t a bad-looking girl. After the second glance, I was hooked. I knew she was for me.”
After they locked eyes at the party, Irving asked a friend for her number.
“I nervously called her up, but she told me she already had a date,” he laughed. “A while after, she called me and asked if I would like to go on a picnic the next day. I gratefully said yes.”
Lynne recalled the picnic as a beautiful spring day.
“The picnic really sealed the deal, and I believe we both felt the same,” she smiled.
Irving had volunteered to be a communications officer in World War II, but that was before meeting the girl of his dreams. After only five dates, he was called to serve.
Throughout his training in Illinois and Texas to become a radio operator on a B17, the couple wrote letters to each other.
“Lynne and I tried our hardest to cor
respond,” Irving said.
“We couldn’t just call each other up, so I wrote letters often,” said Lynne. “While I waited for Irving to return safely, I finished up school at Queens College, and I worked.”
Irving’s stars aligned when he got called to Valley Forge, PA, and discovered Lynne was nearby visiting her family.
“I got a hitch to her family’s house,” he said. “When I arrived, with great trepidation, I went to her father, and I nervously asked for her hand in marriage. I was absolutely scared out of my wits.”
Five months after they were married at Brooklyn’s East Midwood Jewish Center Irving shipped off to Italy.
A tumor in his throat cut his overseas duty short, and he returned home for good. Irving worked in a fur shop with his father in Brooklyn, while Lynne had a range of jobs. The couple had a daughter who is now 65, and a son who is now 62. (They also have one grandchild.)
Over the years, they traveled to England, France, Germany, Austria, Spain and Italy. They are exploring cruises for this spring.
“We are very fortunate that we managed each other very well, and that we understand each other to a large extent,” said Lynne. “Others aren’t this fortunate.”
Both agreed that the key to their 70-year relationship is to never stay angry.
“Never go to bed angry,” said Irving. “You will always have differences with your partner. It’s better to come to terms and not stay angry.”
“We had tragedies in our lives, we have had major changes, we moved several times, we have been through literally everything together,” said Lynne. “If you truly love each other, then you will always be there for one another no matter what.”
