Neither Bud nor Mae ever seem to stop smiling.

It is a blustery February afternoon in Hutchinson and I am enjoying the couple’s company in their cozy apartment at Ecumen Oaks & Pines. They settled in here just over a year ago, in December 2010.

“The kids brought us here to show us the place and before we could say ‘Yea or Nay’ we were moved in,” says Bud. “Of course that’s not true,” Mae counters. And a conversation ensues about the process that led them to their current home, punctuated by clarifications: “But isn’t that about how it went?” queries Bud; “No dear, we took our time finding a good place,” Mae returns.

Bud and Mae are from the rural Stewart area of Minnesota, in McLeod County, current population 533, about 10 miles south of Hutchinson. They have known each other most of their lives. The two lean in toward one another as they recount story after story, pausing to question or correct the details of each other’s recollections.

Though they seem for all the world to have been happily married forever, they are not, in fact, married. They have been together since 1991, after both of their spouses passed away. “She won’t give up the farm,” jokes Bud. Mae chortles and lets the comment pass, though she doesn’t disagree.

Their lives are long intertwined and iconic of their milieu. For more than 40 years, Bud ran the family grocery store, “Ahler’s IGA,” that his grandfather bought in 1902. He and his wife, Ruth, met while Bud was in the Army. He brought her home to Minnesota from New Jersey after serving 43-and-a-half months in WWII, during which time he played the baritone in his Army post band in between stretches as a bomb disposal specialist in the Philippines and Japan. Bud and Ruth raised a daughter and three sons in Stewart, one of whom died in a car accident 10 years before Ruth’s own death, also in a car accident.

“Sure, there’s a lot of tragedy,” reflects Bud, “but isn’t that the way it is? I’ve had a pretty good life.” Holding Mae’s hand he adds, “It’s still good, right Mae?”

Mae and Howard raised a son and three daughters on 240 acres of fine farmland just north of Stewart. Her son and grandson now live in the farmhouse. Mae and Ruth were friends. “I was nearly in the car with Ruth the day she was killed,” remembers Mae. “I wasn’t able to join her because something else came up,” we all pause for a few moments, then Bud, moving on, offers, “Our kids would go out to Mae and Howard’s to be with the horses and had such a great time causing a ruckus. Howard was such a good sport he’d let them do just about whatever they wanted!”

The story of their own “courtship” unfolds with laughter in a non-linear fashion, the two finishing each other’s sentences and backfilling bits along the way. “She came by the store in her new van that fall day and told me to get in for a ride,” recalls Bud. “And he asked me, ‘Why’d you go and get yourself a new van?’” laughs Mae, adding, “We drove to Glencoe and had some pecan pie.”

Both agree that their new home is a good place. “Bud’s got diabetes, and they take such good care to check him out and manage his medications,” notes Mae, who still drives on outings, often to doctor appointments. “I’ve made a lot of nice friends here, and am learning new things,” she adds. Asked what he likes most about his new home, Bud laughs, “That’s easy. No shoveling, no mowing the lawn!”