NORTH ANDOVER — When Fey’s best friend and Fred’s brother set the two up, it was destiny in the making.
“When he opened the door, I said that’s my guy,” Fey Kaplan said, now 70 years later.
Fred agreed that it was “wonderful.”
The couple dated for about two years, and in a week they will be celebrating their 68th wedding anniversary on Feb. 21.
As Valentine’s Day comes up, the love the Kaplans share for each other is evident. Nurses and caregivers at Andover Forest, which was formerly known as Sutton Hill, say the two stare lovingly into each others’ eyes every time Fey comes to visit Fred, which happens “as often as possible,” Fey said.
As Fey, 92, called Fred her “cutie pie” and Fred, 93, returned the compliment in turn, the two held hands, kissed and hugged, proving love has the ability to last a lifetime.
“We’ve had a wonderful marriage,” Fey said. “I know him inside and out, and he knows me inside and out.”
The Kaplans have been inseparable since they met 70 years ago. They even worked together, opening a fitness center and handing out samples at the supermarket because “everything we did, we did together.”
“I never got bored of her,” Fred said.
Before they joined forces, Fred worked at a bakery and had a coffee truck he’d take around the South Shore. He also had two hair salons, one of which was in Peabody.
Fey worked for Clinique and was a teller for sometime as well.
Throughout the years they would go dancing, bowling and travel together. Fey was very excited about their memories of “all of the islands” as well as Hawaii. They also traveled to France, Italy and China, she said.
“We did it all,” Fred said. “Every memory I have is with her.”
The Kaplans, in fact, were always together, only apart for about three months during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic when Fred initially went to live at Andover Forest and Fey continued to live in their apartment in Andover at the Atria Marland Place. Fred moved to the North Andover home in December, and Fey could not see him again until February.
“That was the worst day when we were separated,” Fey said. “It was lonely not having lunch together.”
Fey now visits Fred several times a week. She said each visit she can’t wait to see him. Fred often wonders why she can’t stay, she said.
The couple has four children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Everyone lives nearby, with the farthest child living in Connecticut, according to Randy Welch, the Kaplan’s third child.
“They’ve shown us the importance of family,” Welch said. “We’re all very close thanks to them.”
The extended Kaplan family is so close that for Fred’s 93rd birthday on Feb. 5 everyone visited him at the senior care center. They even brought Chinese food. Fred laughed and smiled thinking about it, as he still had balloons tied to his wheelchair.
“We love each other very much,” Fey said. “We look forward to seeing each other all the time.”
The family also surprised Fey and Fred in Florida, when everyone flew down for the couple’s 60th wedding anniversary eight years ago.
Every holiday was also spent as a family, Fey said. The children and grandchildren would all come over and Fey would bake for Thanksgiving and Hanukkah celebrations.
Now, as Valentine’s Day nears and their next wedding anniversary is around the corner, the couple is just looking forward to being together.
“I love him, and he loves me,” Fey said. “We love each other like the first day we met.”
Follow Monica on Twitter at @MonicaSager3
Follow Monica on Twitter at @MonicaSager3
Follow Monica on Twitter at @MonicaSager3