Finding Love after 100

You may have read about Harold Terens when he turned 102 years old last August 8.

What an interesting guy he is and what an interesting period he lived through.

Born when movies were silent and radio was in its infancy; Harold grew up with a religious mother from Poland and a non-religious father from Russia. His parents decided that since one was religious and one wasn't and since they had two boys, only one would have a bar mitzvah.

Harold grew up in New York, missed having a bar mitzvah and was lucky enough to see three great ballparks of yesteryear, Yankee Stadium in the Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig era, the Polo Grounds across the Harlem River from the Stadium (New York Giants), and the storied cozy home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Ebbets Field on Bedford Avenue in Flatbush.

Harold was one of the estimated 600,000 Jewish soldiers serving during World War II. He enlisted in 1942 and was a radio repair tech assigned to help repair planes returning from France on D-Day, June 6, 1944, so they could return to duty quickly. Terens recalled that half of his company's pilots died that day. Twelve days later he was dispatched to France to help transport newly captured Germans and recently freed American prisoners of war to England.

After Germany surrendered in 1945, Harold was part of helping to send more former prisoners to England and arrived in America a month later. He married his first wife in 1948 and the couple raised two daughters and a son in New York. Harold worked for a British conglomerate and worked his way up to the vice-presidency. When his wife retired in 2006 after a long career as a French teacher, the couple moved to Florida. They were married for 70 years in 20l8 when Thelma passed away. At the time, they proudly had eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Harold found love again last year and he married an active lady named Jeanne who turned 97 this year. They were married in Normandy as last year was the 80^th anniversary of D-Day, and France's liberation from the Nazis. He returned to Normandy several times over the years and met five U.S. presidents: the first President Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

102-year-old Harold and his 97-year-old wife are planning a ten-day European vacation next year with three stops. First, they'll head to Milan, Italy, to catch an opera and then take in a ballet in Paris. Their last stop will be England to hear the London Philharmonic.

Harold is saving the best for last. He wants to have a bar mitzvah next year at 103. After all, it's only 90 years past due. He mentioned it to CNN host Wolf Blitzer when he was part of a panel and it was heard by a rabbi with connections to the Pentagon. The Pentagon is where Harold wants his bar mitzvah next summer.

Harold says there are two keys to a long happy life. Minimize stress and you have to have a lot of luck.