Language of love remains the same for young, old alike

Gene Steiner was not a fan of blind dates.

At 20 years old in 1950, he was working in Toledo and would visit Celina since his father was employed at New Idea. His friend, Carl, invited him to a Celina football game against Kenton and asked if he'd ever been on a blind date. Steiner replied that he hadn't and had no intention of ever doing so.

Carl begged Steiner to come. He had just started dating a girl named Dolores - who would later become his wife - and she wanted to bring a friend along. After days of begging, Steiner eventually relented and agreed, saying he'd do it only once and that Carl owed him.

One blind date was all it took. Steiner met Mary Enyart, a beautiful girl to whom he could talk for ages. Indeed, that's what they did on that first date. Steiner said they didn't even make it to the game. Instead, the two sat in Steiner's car and just talked.

Enyart and Steiner saw each other four times from October to February 1950. Steiner said he had never thought much about marriage before. By their fifth meeting, the two went to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and got their marriage license.

Alexis Nader met her future husband while he was on a date with her suitemate her freshman year at Bowling Green State University.

Jon Wenning had a dorm room two doors down from hers, and Nader met him for the first time as he watched a movie in her living room with one of her six roommates.

Sophomore year came around and a tornado in the area forced students in the dorm to the basement for safety. Nader surveyed the room looking for someone to whom to talk when she laid eyes on a familiar face - Wenning.

The two exchanged messages on Twitter afterward and eventually met up for study dates. The study dates consisted of awkward tension, small talk and books used exclusively to flip through nervously when one ran out of something to say.

Nearly three years later, in June 2019, the two got engaged and are set to marry on Oct. 10 of this year.

Gene and Mary Steiner have been married for 70 years as of Feb. 5 and live at The Gardens at Celina. Mary Steiner said a lot has changed in the last 70 years - more things to see and do, and the technology is unprecedented.

Nader and Wenning can certainly attest to the benefits of technology. The two have been in a long-distance relationship since Wenning graduated from BGSU and moved to Fort Meyers, Florida, to begin his career as an account manager for an S&P 500 company while Nader finishes her bachelor's degree in adolescent to young adult education.

The Steiners fell in love quickly but never listened to the naysayers who believed they would never last. Gene Steiner said he has never had any doubts. He found the one thing he had always wanted in a partner when he met Mary Steiner - someone he could love for a lifetime.

Wenning took a little more time to propose. His mom asked him after graduation what the move and a new job would mean for him and Nader. He said he wanted to stay together. His mother said Nader would eventually graduate and want to move in with him, and wouldn't he want to live together and be married?

Two days later Wenning bought a ring after consulting Nader's best friend from high school on what she'd like. The next day he asked for her parents' blessing. Four days later he drove from Florida to Bowling Green to surprise the love of his life.

In 70 years of marriage, neither Gene nor Mary Steiner could recall having a fight. The two said they never got angry with each other, a testament that they were meant to be.

"You have misunderstandings, but that's all they are," Gene Steiner said.

Nader and Wenning said they've had two arguments that they considered fights. Disagreements have arisen for sure, they said, but they always have made a point to say "I love you" before going to bed. Wenning said they had to work out some kinks in the beginning of the relationship: He must not only understand things Nader appreciated but also how he developed feelings and how to communicate with her, which the two said took a lot of patience.

The Steiners enjoyed passing the time together by bowling. Nader and Wenning will play the Wiki Game in which players start on the same randomly selected Wikipedia article and must navigate to another pre-selected target article solely by clicking links within each article. Whoever arrives at the target article first wins.

The Steiners have enjoyed wedded bliss for 70 years and some change, sharing four children, nine grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. Gene Steiner is 90, but said he is still as in love with his wife now that she's 88 as he was when she was 18.

"Appreciate and treat your wife like she's something special," he said. "This is the same beautiful woman I married. The outside may have changed, but she's still the same, beautiful wife."

As Nader and Wenning plan their wedding from several states apart, the two thought about what it would be like to celebrate 70 years of marriage. They would both be 93.

Wenning said he'd want the same thing at 23 that he does at 93 - to be with Nader.

"I'd want to look back and be content and have that sense of accomplishment that our lives were full of love," Nader said.