‘A display of love’: Sisters seniors share wedding photos and fond memories this Valentine’s Day

(Update: adding video, comments from The Lodge in Sisters residents, staff)

SISTERS, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Staff at The Lodge in Sisters, an independent and assisted living community, have created a display of wedding photos, and in honor of Valentine's Day, the residents were sharing their memories of their special day and their spouses.

According to Community Relations Directo, Deb Wattenburg, they started working on his project in December.

"Well it's a display of love," she said. "It shows you that there's still so much good in the world and that true love is a real thing."

Some of the photos go all the way back to the 1940s.

"Residents would come up and bring me their pictures and have a story to tell and sometimes, you know, got some laughter, got some tears," said Life Enrichment Coordinator Alea Schliep. "A lot of these pictures that come through, they tell a story, and we just unlocked a lot of memories that they had."

Widowed residents were excited to talk about their husbands.

"His name was Donald. Well, he was a very nice man." said resident Pat Wolfe, looking at a photo of her husband. "And when we met, we met on a blind date. He took me to a movie that I didn't like at all."

Resident Dolly Brady met the love of her life when she was only 14 years old. She still had a Valentine he sent her from Korea. It reads:

"Hi, kitten. Sorry that this is so late, but no one here even thought about it until the cars from town started coming in. Remember, you have all my love."

The women also shared some fond memories of their wedding day.

"This was in the chapel where my husband and I went to college in Claremont, California," said resident Tillie Hollar, pointing to her wedding photo. "We had college friends in our wedding, which made it fun. And we had a reception right next to the chapel, in the Art Department."

Resident Pat Morris had a photo on display of her and her bridesmaids. One of the women in the picture was her best friend in Southern California, who she still talks to today.

"We were showing my garter," she said.

Staff at The Lodge say the photos have been a hit. They plan to leave them up and create more vintage-themed displays in the future.

"Everybody is looking nice, happy," Brady said. "We still are. We miss our husbands."