This Valentine’s Day, as thoughts turn to love and romance, one Marblehead couple is looking back on more than half-a-century of marriage.
Barbara Bell (then Michaud) of Salem first met Ed Bell of Peabody on a blind date in the early 1970s, arranged by a coworker. She thought he seemed “nice” but noted he was “not too tall.” Ed’s first impression was that Barbara seemed “pretty cool.”
Ed was a reporter and editor for WBZ Radio in Boston, while Barbara worked in human resources at the former GTE Sylvania electronics company. Though details have faded, Ed remembers he brought his guitar when he picked up Barbara for that first date — a cookout with friends.
Ed played “‘This Land is Your Land’ kinda music …,” Barbara said, recalling the era’s folk songs.
The relationship quickly blossomed. They married in 1972 and spent most weekends boating and hosting big family gatherings at their cottage on Lake Chebacco in nearby Essex.
“Every weekend, we had somebody coming down,” Barbara said.
They later sold it to buy a condo in New Hampshire as their young daughters, Andrea and Jennifer, took up skiing.
The Bells have now been married 52 years. Community continues to play a large role in their life and relationship — they regularly spend time at the Council on Aging, playing cards with friends or curling and bocce.
“She completes me,” Ed said. “There were a lot of ups and downs in life. And you need to really support each other.”
The Bells said the hardest time came more than 30 years ago when their 15-year-old daughter Jennifer died in a car crash on the way back from a ski trip. The family was together in the car when they were hit from behind by a drunk driver in a pickup truck.
“Is this going to destroy our marriage, or is this going to make it stronger?” Ed recalled himself thinking. “I think it made it stronger. Because we had to be there for each other.”
Over the decades there were moves to Virginia, Washington, D.C. and back to Massachusetts before finally settling in Marblehead. Siblings live nearby. Family continues to be the cornerstone of their lives.
“They clearly put each other first and make compromises to make the other happy,” said daughter Andrea Bell Bergeron. “Whether it was my dad turning down opportunities so not to upset my mom, or my mom moving to DC to support his career, they always consider what’s best for the other.”
She added, “They were always putting each other first, and that was the big thing.”
Ed and Barbara Bell’s advice for a happy marriage:
— Put your partner’s needs first.
— Support each other through difficult times.
— Pick your battles/avoid “yelling at each other” over disagreements.
— Make compromises so both people feel happy and supported.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Ed Bell co-chairs the Current’s Board of Directors.
I am very proud of my cousins Ed and Barbara, I have admired their marriage for over 5 decades as I remember both before they were married. They have lived their life full of love, dignity, friends and family. I am privileged to be a part of that. I have never seen them without their trademark smiles, smiles that come easy to their faces. Barbara’s Dad, my Uncle Albert, must have infused them with his humor as he had the most infectious laugh that I can still hear even though he passed 20+ years ago. Good luck to them, they are awesome roll models for so many of us!