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Eighty years ago on August 15, Joseph and Alexandra Kazickas got married in Sv. Mikalojaus Church in Vilnius. They enjoyed 70 years of marriage before Alexandra passed away in 2011. They were a joyful couple that loved to commemorate special occasions with festivities. So, in August, 1991, Joseph and Alexandra Kazickas hosted a big party for their 50^th wedding anniversary at a beautiful club in the seaside resort of East Hampton, NY where they had a home. Their children and their spouses came, along with more than 200 friends to celebrate the happy occasion.

In a long, memorable toast, Joseph, a charismatic speaker, reflected on their courtship in Vilnius and his enduring love for his wife. His conclusion, which left some in the audience in tears, was an elaborate metaphor comparing his guests to stars on the map of life, moving through the universe, through fields, rivers, deserts, wilderness, across turbulent oceans, into valleys of sadness and hopelessness, but finally to merge together into a lovely garden under a great sun of happiness.

“And all these stars in that long journey on this earth, came tonight to this beautiful club and what we have here is laughter, joy, music, dancing.

Well, in an hour or so, we will all depart and continue our journey and again there will be mountains and valleys but never again in our life will we be here together. Never, never again, all of us who are here tonight.

But you will have to continue on the journey, some place to the end of that map of life and somewhere, sometime, that little star will disappear. It does not die, it just disappears like a boat over the horizon. And that is life.

I have a very great request from all of you I would like all of you when you come home tonight to say to each other how much you love each other. Do not to say it in a perfunctory way. No, please say it in a way that comes from your soul, from your heart. Be gentle, tender, give a kiss and say again, I love you, I love you.

And for those of you will go home and there is no one there to embrace,  please remember that somebody loves you. All those stars that went over the horizon are right about your head and they love you and we love you. We are so happy you came here tonight. You are not forgotten. And those of you whose husbands are not here because of business, give then a telephone call and say darling, when you come back, I have something to tell you that you might be very interested in. And when he comes back, you embrace him and tell him how much you love him.

Now if you are going to do that you will make Alexandra and me very very happy. Please do that indeed because I would like to say to my grandchildren that when we celebrated our 50^th anniversary every one was happy and dancing and embracing each other and saying, I love you, I love you. And so Alexandra and I would like to say, we love you. You are the most beautiful flowers in our garden and this moment will remain in our memory to the end of our lives. Thank you.”

Perhaps to remember Joseph and Alexandra on this special occasion,  we can heed his words and tell someone we love them today.

The Kazickas family

Photo above: Alexandra and Joseph Kazickas on their 50th wedding anniversary in East Hampton

(The Kazickas family archives)