About Jana’s big day – the wedding – Mammamuntetiem.lv found out on “Instagram”, where her granddaughter Adriana Miglāne is an influencer with more than 100,000 followers! – had posted about her grandmother. As the “Golden Rhythms” festival dedicated to the older generation will take place already this weekend (Sunday, August 13, in Riga, Esplanade Park), the aim of which is to encourage beautiful and active living regardless of age, we spoke to Jan for an interview – a story of inspiration.
She has lived alone for more than 30 years
Jana is not only a grandmother, but also a great-grandmother – she has one daughter, two grandchildren and one great-grandchild. And very recently, at the age of 72, in the presence of her descendants, she stood in front of the altar – to become the wife of the man whom, in her words, she had tested for 11 years.
Jana and Māris said their goodbyes to each other on July 22 of this year – this is Jana’s second marriage, Māris’s first. “I got married for the first time at the age of 22 – we had a daughter. However, there were such and such problems in our relationship – we could not live together – and the relationship led to a divorce. At that time we lived in Liepāja, but after the divorce I moved to Bauska, where my daughter lived,” Jana begins the story.
She has lived alone for more than 30 years, part of these years working in Norway. “When I was working in Norway, I received a letter from Mar – he addressed me to Draugiem.lv. We started to correspond little by little – what each does, where they work, live. It happened in November 2011. Then he flew to Norway from Latvia to me,” reveals Jana. After some time, they started living together, and the new wife agrees that she stopped working in Norway to a large extent and returned to Latvia because of Māra, as well as because her retirement years had already arrived.
Photo: Normunds Briška
Girlfriend support
However, even though Jana is 72 years old and at retirement age, she is still active and working: “Yes, I work. I can’t sit in four walls! I want to move, I want to act. Years already give a lot, so I think you should be active even at this age.” Maris also works in Finland. “It is not far, and often Maris can stay at home even for two or three months,” says Jana. This summer she also wanted to go to her husband in Finland, but she didn’t make it because of her friend’s illness. “My friend fell ill, and it was important for me to stay in Latvia to help her if necessary. We change like this – if one gets sick, the other goes to do her work. And vice versa. That’s why I didn’t go to my husband.”
Jana says that a friend is a great value: “We support each other – we have known each other for more than 30 years; we are family friends. She – Vaira Adiene – and her husband were our guides.”
Photo: Normunds Briška
The marriage was not rushed – the wife checked the future husband
“If you love each other, then you must get married, you must be husband and wife. When my parents were alive, they also wanted all of us children to get married, and in church. That’s why I wanted it to take place in the church this time,” shares the thoughts of the Bauškėniece woman, whose first wedding took place in the registry office, but this time – in the church.
The marriage was not rushed. “You have to get to know a person, you can’t get married just because you don’t have a husband and you need him at all costs. I tested mine for quite some time!” the new wife is honest, “I didn’t want him to be a drunkard – you couldn’t live with a drunkard; the first husband was not a drunkard either.” Jana believes: when the other half has been found and you have the feeling that this is your person, you still have to get married – you can’t just live the same way, “getting together” together. “I never liked that kind of life,” she said. However, he admits that he managed to live together for a long time – 11 years – without officially registering the relationship. “I will say frankly – I checked my husband, what he is, what he will be in the future. Yes, he is 15 years younger than me. And he hasn’t gone around looking for another woman all these years. According to the husband, if he is with one woman, then he is only with her. And love gives us a lot – we love each other very much,” says Jana.
She also reveals how the proposal took place. “My granddaughter came to me that day. At that time, Maris was working in Germany. When he came home, he had bought a ring and proposed to me in the presence of his granddaughter. He said that he really wants me to become his wife.” Jana answered “yes”, however, they decided to wait for the wedding. They had started planning the wedding in 2020, the date had already been set, the rings had been bought. “But my older sister got seriously ill, we postponed the wedding. I couldn’t hold a wedding under these conditions. The sister died. Well, two years have passed, and we decided that the wedding should be held. The pain has subsided a bit. Also, we can’t drag anymore, how long will you drag? Every day something can happen to us too.”
Photo: Normunds Briška
How did I feel at the wedding? Perfect!
The wedding took place on July 22 in the church. After that, a photo session of the newlyweds followed, then they went to a guest house, where they partied with more than 55 guests. “It rained a little on the wedding day, but it didn’t bother us,” said Mrs. Ungures. “How did I feel at the wedding? Perfect!” interrupts Jana, admitting that at first she was a little nervous, so she took some sedatives. She thinks that Mari was more excited. “He got dressed at his daughter’s house because he hadn’t seen my dress, I didn’t show him!”
The wedding dress was lilac. “I really liked the dress, and so did the guests!” happy wife. Jana’s godson’s wife recommended choosing this dress color, who was said to be an invaluable help in organizing the wedding. At first, they went to Riga to look for a dress, but wedding salons say that dresses of this color are rarely available. Therefore, fabric was bought for the dress, and it was sewn by a seamstress in Bauska.
Jana is 72, Māris is 57. They met on Draugiem.lv and got married!
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Common dreams of the newlyweds
Jana shares her and Mar’s dreams. “We want to repair the apartment. We also dream that next year we will go to Turkey – it will be our wedding trip; it didn’t happen this year because my husband had work,” Jana is frank. Also, she does not hide that they have both common interests and sometimes “disagree”. “We like to go everywhere together. We thought, for example, that we should go to Jelgava – let’s go! We are also going to Lithuania, to my mother’s grave. We are going to Panevezys, to Šiauliai – always together.” Why to Lithuania? Jana’s mother is Lithuanian, lived in Birži, her father is Polish. They had eight children in the family, but one of them is already dead. “Lithuanians are very hardworking! Such pedants – I’m a pedant myself, I have to keep everything clean at home. My mother made us work from an early age, we lived in the countryside and worked a lot.”
On the other hand, Jana’s husband Māris is a Latvian from Kuldīga. “He looks after me very, very much, takes care of me, he is very good, hardworking and punctual, he survives a lot if he gets sick. Maris is very protective of me.” When asked what Jana likes most about her husband, she exclaims: I just like him! “He is very sweet. I love that he blesses me. He is also very polite – always letting me go. They set the table for me at home so we can have breakfast or lunch. Takes great care of me. Also takes care of my grandchildren, takes an interest in them. And compliments me too. Every day he says he loves me; also when waking up at night.”
After telling her love story, Jana summarizes: “I want to live with my husband until the end of my life.”
2023-08-12 02:25:00
#married #years #love
