
He may get 100, but , Harold Terens , also smooches like a girl.
It’s one of the many causes his wife,  , Jeanne Swerlin, 96, is marrying him.
” He’s like a fine kisser”, Swerlin said.
The couple loves to relax, hang hands and create each additional laugh. Additionally, they are getting prepared for a traditional wedding. Terens, a Lake , Worth Beach , citizen, and Swerlin, of , Boca Raton, will tie the knot on , June 8 , in , France, the place where Terens faced some of the most formative experience of his career as he helped the Allies fight the Germans as a man during World War II.
Terens and various World War II vets are going to , France , for the 80th commemoration of D- Time,  , June 6, 1944, when Allied forces landed on the French coast to start the liberation of , Europe , from Nazi terror.  , France , does honor the past men at various rites this year, including a remembrance with President , Joe Biden , in Cherbourg on , June 7.
This 80th commemoration marks Terens ‘ third D- Time celebration in , France. There are not many soldiers like him left: Just 119, 550 of the 16.4 million Americans who served in World War II were intact as of 2023, according to the , National WWII Museum , in , New Orleans.
Terens, a tribal of the , Bronx, did not land in , France , on D- Time but arrived 12 days later to help bridge captured European military and freed British troops to , England. He became an analyst in , Morse , script and participated in combat operations in , Iran,  , Ukraine , and , England , before his company ended in 1945. He had been on a three-year deployment.
He married his wife Thelma, who became a teacher at , Hofstra University , in , New York, in 1948, she died in 2018 after 70 years of marriage. They had two sons and a boy and moved to , Florida , from , New York , in 2006. Terens, a former vice president of a European company that distributed liquor, tobacco and other things, has eight grandchildren and 10 fantastic- grandchildren.
Swerlin, a , Brooklyn , local, also has two sons and a brother and has been married twice before. She has four children and seven wonderful- children.
Swerlin had lived with , Boca Raton , resident , Sol Katz , for 25 years until his dying in 2019. Katz’s girl, Joanne Schosheim of , Boca Raton, introduced Swerlin to Terens in 2021. Schosheim’s kids attended camp with Terens ‘ children.
Terens was shy and did n’t make eye contact, so the couple said their first date did n’t go well.
” I had been married for 70 years and my family died”, Terens said. ” For three and a half years, I saw no one”.
But at the urging of a companion, he called her for a second time, at Times 52 in , Boca Raton, and they clicked.
” We ordered, but I could n’t eat”, he said. ” I felt like I was exploding in. It was the most loving, exciting, amazing time in my life”.
Swerlin claimed that that day even brought her to enjoy.
” Always have I felt this way about anyone”, she said. ” We joke all the time. At 96, to have this, I mean, come on”.
Terens, who is participating in a lifetime research at , Johns Hopkins University , in , Baltimore, said his existence has been greatly influenced by the function of the late Rev.  , Norman Vincent Peale, who wrote the 1952 best- seller,” The Power of Positive Thinking”. The centenarian believes that Peale’s upbeat attitude, as well as efforts to reduce stress, good genetics ( his mother lived to 100 ), and luck, were the main factors that contributed to his longevity.
In the town of Carentan- les Marais, Terens and Swerlin will get married close to the French beaches where Terens served.  , The town was the site of an intense battle with the German Wehrmacht after , U. S , troops landed in Normandy.
The mayor of Carentan- les- Marais will officiate at the wedding at , City Hall, and Terens said a parade is expected after the ceremony. He claimed that the town wanted photos of him as a 20-year-old soldier and that they planned to print on cards to be distributed at the parade. Many of the wedding details were handled for the couple by the French consulate employees in Miami, whom Terens has learned from his anniversary trips to Normandy.
Besides the 38 friends and family members who will attend the wedding, the couple will be accompanied by a 24- piece band of bagpipers led by retired , Palm Beach County , Fire- Rescue Capt.  , John Fischer , of , Boca Raton. The band plans to play at several D- Day beaches and World War II commemorative sites in the coming weeks, including , Pointe- du- Hoc,  , Utah, Sword,  , Omaha , and Juno beaches in , France, where the Allies began their World War II journey inland through , Europe.
Terens and Swerlin said they will continue to travel and see local ballet performances and clubs ( they like The Funky Biscuit music venue in Boca Raton, France, for two weeks ).
Terens claimed that not much in his life will change after the wedding. He and Swerlin plan to maintain their own residences. And he claimed that he would continue to do so each day in his mornings. He gave a demonstration.
” Hey Alexa”, he said to the interactive voice assistant,” Play ‘ Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’.'”
Alexa obeyed, and the uplifting ode to happiness from the , Broadway , classic” Oklahoma”! filled Swerlin’s home with joy in honor of two rich lives.
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