Love was well
worth the wait

By Jon Campisi
Times Staff Writer

If not for the fact that Robert and Geneva Roberts — or Bob and Genie, as they are known — live in a retirement community, one would be hard-pressed to believe these newlyweds are octogenarians.
After all, they stroll around the Philadelphia Protestant Home in Lawndale while holding hands and displaying other signs of affection as openly as a couple of high-schoolers.
Yep. Ask Bob and Genie and they’ll surely tell you their love for each other most likely keeps them feeling young.
But, for the couple who were married in February 2006, the story actually begins more than six decades ago in Dayton, Ohio.
"We should have been married in 1943," Genie said during a recent interview at the couple’s independent-living unit at PPH.
So what happened? Well, for starters, Bob was called to active duty with the U.S. Navy during World War II. Before he left, however, he proposed to his special lady, one he met while walking the halls at Wilbur Wright High School.
"I winked at her going down the hallway at the high school," Bob recalled of their chance encounter.
Genie followed up by describing how Bob’s charm got the better of her.
"I thought, ‘Uh-oh, there’s something about that guy,’" she said.
But things didn’t move beyond that initial flirtation, since Bob thought Genie was already taken. Eventually, however, the two began dating, a relationship that continued through high school, until Bob proposed in his senior year.
The engagement was short-lived, however, since Bob wanted to wed before he went off to war and Genie wanted to wait. Because of a misunderstanding, the two split. (Genie said "no" but meant she wanted to wait to get married until Bob returned from overseas; her future husband took the "no" as in she didn’t want to wed, period.)
"I was scared to death," Genie said.
"Being a young, smart-aleck kid full of temper, I said, ‘Give me my ring back,’ and she did," Bob added.
And so it went, each going his and her separate way. Bob was married twice and widowed twice. He has two children. Genie also married, bearing four children.
Genie spent her younger years in California, where she landed acting roles; she was an extra in Gone With the Wind, and had bit parts in 11 other motion pictures. She moved to California at age 11, but moved back to Ohio at 14 after her mother fell ill. It was there that she met Bob. After their split, Genie got married and moved to Hawaii, where she stayed for 20-plus years. She eventually ended up back in California, before relocating to Oregon. Bob, on the other hand, spent most of his adult life in the Philadelphia area, where his second wife was from.
Then came that fateful day in 2003. It was Bob and Genie’s 60th high school reunion, and neither expected to be reunited the way they were. For one thing, Genie wasn’t even supposed to attend. She didn’t have much money, and therefore couldn’t afford the airfare and hotel room. But as the story goes, an actor friend of hers also sat on the board of a museum in Ohio that wanted to obtain garments Genie had worn in Gone With the Wind. He offered to fly her in free of charge.
While back in her hometown, Genie decided to attend the reunion, and the rest is, well, history.
"It’s how the miracle of God works sometimes," Bob said of reconnecting with his true love.
Genie spotted Bob from across the room when she walked into the reunion.
"How many times I’ve dreamed about this," she recalled, thinking of that moment.
"When he looked at me, he never took his eyes off me," she continued. "He parted the people, grabbed me and kissed me. We stood there in the middle of everybody and cried and told everybody how much we loved each other."
But then Bob remembered his wife at the time was standing right behind him. His reaction?
"He said he forgot he had the wife when he walked in there," Genie said jokingly.
All kidding aside, Bob said his second wife was very ill at that time and wasn’t expected to live much longer. Not that that gives him an excuse to go with another woman while he was married, he admits (he later learned that both his children and Genie’s didn’t necessarily approve of the way things went down), but it did mean that the relationship with his wife was obviously going to be limited.
At the same time, Genie was dealing with a similar fate — her husband was suffering from numerous ailments and also was not expected to live too long.
For Bob and Genie, the important thing to focus on, they believe, is their strong feelings for each other and that they sort of consider themselves soulmates.
After the reunion (during which Genie was invited to sit at Bob’s table), the two again parted ways. Genie returned to her home in Oregon; Bob remained in Philadelphia, moving into the Philadelphia Protestant Home, where he remains to this day.
In shades of their younger years, they remained incommunicado for six months after the reunion, but eventually Bob decided to reach out and e-mail Genie. From there, the two kept up a steady line of communication for the next two years.
"We spent those two years on the telephone at night . . ." Bob said, with Genie quickly interjecting, ". . . trying to keep each other sane."
Each had been dealing with difficulties at home, due to their spouses’ deteriorating health. Genie’s husband died about a year after the 2003 reunion, and Bob’s second wife passed away about a year after that.
Eventually, Bob and Genie couldn’t keep their feelings contained much longer, and the two decided to wed. Genie moved in with Bob at PPH, where he had been since 2004 — he moved there, he said, because the nursing facilities would benefit his then-wife’s condition — and they remain by each other’s side to this day.
In fact, they consider themselves somewhat of an inspiration to others at the home, many of whom appeared reserved before Bob and Genie started openly expressing their love for each other.
"They think we’re the lovers," Bob said with a smile. "We walk around hand-in-hand everywhere we go.
"Now there’s all kinds of hand-holding and stuff like that," Bob continued. "It put some ideas in a lot of people’s heads."
And no apologies are necessary — since they’re in their 80s, they feel they deserve to live in a state of perpetual happiness.
"We’re still on our honeymoon," Bob said. "We’ll be on our honeymoon for the rest of our lives."
For Bob and Genie Roberts, their relationship is a testament to the power of true love. "You never know when someone is going to come into your life who’s supposed to be there," Genie said. ••
Reporter Jon Campisi can be reached at 215-354-3038 or jcampisi@phillynews.com