Sealed with a kiss

MOSCOW - After 75 years, Al and Ida Pepe are still just happy to be together.

The Moscow couple celebrated today's wedding anniversary Tuesday at a lunch surrounded by more than 70 friends and family at the 1912 Center. Their marriage has taken them everywhere from New York to Georgia to Idaho, and with the exception of a couple of years during World War II, they have not been apart.

"We just enjoy being together," Ida said. "Once in awhile, we get on each other's nerves, but that's to be understood under the circumstances. But other than that, we've been getting along very, very well all these years."

Al and Ida first met during a Halloween scavenger hunt in 1940. They were the last two left in the car after everyone else had paired off, and so they paired together for the activity.

Al and one of his friends were later discussing who would take Ida out first.

"He said, 'I'm taking her out first, and that's it,' " Ida remembered. "And that was it."

The couple were engaged by Easter and married on Aug. 3, 1941.

It wasn't much later that Al, a combat engineer for the U.S. Army, was shipped to Europe for two years during World War II.

Al recalled operating a bulldozer and building roads while he was overseas.

"They kept me so busy with the machine, I didn't have time to think about anything else," he said.

Ida remembered the many letters he wrote to her, detailing his day's work and the meals that were ready for him when he'd return to camp.

She remembered, too, the day the Army called and asked her if she was ready to receive her husband.

"And of course, I said, 'Of course I'm ready,' " Ida said.

He returned to America with a Bronze Star. Al's service then took the couple to Mississippi and to Georgia, where he was discharged in 1946.

"I figured, as long as I can be with him, I was going to do it," Ida said. "I would've gone to Europe if they'd let me, but they wouldn't let me."

The couple then returned to Long Island, N. Y., where they had two daughters - Alida in 1949 and Karin in 1952. The family made their home there for years.

Alida Bockino and Karin Clifford, both Moscow residents, remembered their childhoods with days spent on the beach and big family gatherings with lots of Italian food.

Bockino called it a "kinder, gentler life." Sundays were spent watching feature shows and then pulling out encyclopedias to research the people and places in them.

Al and Ida moved to Moscow in 1979 to be close to their daughters. It's one of the best things about living where they live, Ida said.

"I like it because my two girls are here," she said.

The couple, both 96, have made friends here, too, and continue to keep busy with lunches every Tuesday and Thursday at the 1912 Center and weekly pinochle games. Ida enjoys cooking and reading, and Al likes working on jigsaw puzzles.

The 75-year marriage hasn't come without hiccups. Ida battled and defeated breast cancer a few years ago after having a mastectomy. She said the couple has otherwise remained in good health, and had highlights like traveling across the country twice in a camper.

"You go along day in and day out," Ida said. "You never think about the fact that you're going to be 75 years married."

It was easy for the couple to name what's kept them together all these years.

"No matter what kind of day you had - good one, bad one, arguing - don't go to bed mad," Al said.

"Every night, before we go to bed, we kiss and we say 'I love you,' " Ida added. "And we never, ever forget to do that."

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Embree may be contacted at cembree@lmtribune.com or (208) 669-1298. Follow her on Twitter @chelseaembree .