7 | The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,January 7,2021 theifp.ca Dental Implants It feels great to smile with Available here... New Patients Welcome Family and Cosmetic Dentistry Marketplace Dental Centre Georgetown Marketplace Mall HOURS: Monday & Wednesday 8:00am - 8:00pm • Tuesday & Thursday 8:00am - 6:00pm • Saturday 8:00am - 3:00pm 905-877-CARE (2273) • www.georgetowndental.com • Proudly Serving Georgetown Since 1994. While we are currently only open for urgent eye care, we are getting prepared for a full re-opening of our offices as soon as health officials will allow.We wish to assure all our current and new patients that strong safety measures will be in place when we do open. Hope to see you soon and stay safe! We are open but due to the current virus situation we have to limit the number of people in our office. If you are planning a visit (for routine eye examinations, eyewear purchase and repair, contact lens pick up etc), please contact us in advance and we will arrange an appointment time for you. This will prevent overcrowding and keep everyone safe! Love knows no boundaries -- even during a global pandemic. At least it didn't for Frederick Paul and Florence Harvey. The high school sweethearts first met seven decades ago in Wandsworth, N.L., when Freder- ick, as a young man, would flicker his porch light before going to bed every night. It was his way of say- ing goodnight to Florence, who lived across the bay, less than a ki- lometre away. Both "downhomers" went on to marry other people and build fam- ilies over five-plus decades. Frederick, 84, lost his first wife, Helen, to multiple health chal- lenges that ended with dementia in 2019. Florence, 81, lost her first husband, Len, to cancer in 2017. But time passed and hearts were healing. In February, Valentine's Day, to be exact, Florence reached out by telephone to Frederick to extend her support, having heard the news of his wife's death. This was after not communi- cating with each other for de- cades, with the exception of a pass- ing conversation during a "Come Home Year" town reunion in New- foundland in 1997, that Frederick and his family attended. The two began to talk by phone for several months as COVID-19 wreaked hav- oc on the country and eventually discussed the prospect of Florence winging it to Ontario for a visit. She would also use the visit to see her sons, one in Georgetown and the other in Ottawa. Florence has five children -- two in Ontario, one in B.C. and two at home in Newfoundland -- 10 grandchildren and seven great- grandchildren. Frederick is a fa- ther to two, grandfather to four, all in Ontario. That surprise visit happened on July 5, Frederick's birthday, ac- cording to his daughter, Cathy Paul. "He called me later that eve- ning and said, 'I got a birthday pre- sent from Newfoundland and it talks ... here she is' and he passed the phone to Florence," she smiled in relaying the day's events. It wasn't long -- three days in fact -- before conversations turned to marriage. Mindful of government pan- demic guidelines, wedding plans began in earnest. On Aug. 8, the two made it offi- cial before a small gathering of mostly family at Norval United Church: the Paul family's church since 1981. Ironically, the wedding was al- so the very first in the church's newly constructed building. "This is a very special celebra- tion," said the church's lead min- ister, Paul Ivany, during his mes- sage that day. "I checked the num- bers and, in my career as a minis- ter, I have conducted more than 500 wedding ceremonies, but this ceremony without question is one of the most special that I have ever been a part of. "It truly is a miracle that Flor- ence and Fred are standing here before us today, but here we are. "You both cared so well for your spouse," he continued. "But the time came that you had to say goodbye to your spouse from this life. And I know there were tears and sorrow, sadness and pain. But you made it through. "You were not alone. You had family and friends there with you ... and somehow, out of that pain and sadness, a small flame was re- kindled." Ivany noted how unlike- ly a reconnection of this sort is, particularly amid a pandemic. "Amazingly, remarkably, after all these years you've found your way back to one another. You've both been given a tremendous gift. "It is difficult enough in this life to find love. It is even rarer to find love again." Florence, in her vows, ex- pressed to the groom and family her commitment to the new union. "Fred, yes, we have come al- most full circle," she said. "You were the first young man to walk me home in our teens. And it looks like you will be the last man to walk me home." Four months have now passed and the newlyweds have just cele- brated their first Christmas to- gether in Ontario. With the region in which they live remaining locked down to off- set rising infection numbers, Flor- ence and Frederick will have plen- ty of time alone to catch up on lost memories -- and, of course, build new ones. While 2020 will be one to forget for many, it will be one to re- member for Frederick and Flor- ence. NEWS FINDING LOVE ... AGAIN HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEARTS REUNITE AFTER SEVEN DECADES SEAN DURACK durack@hotmail.com Fredrick Paul and Florence Harvey on their wedding day this past August. Bobby Schmutz/Moss Imaging