Let Your Heart Be Light: 'Respect' keeps couple together for 60 years

Juan and Serafina Delgado say what keeps 60 years of marriage going strong is seven letters that soul singer Aretha Franklin made famous — R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

The Brownsville couple says showing respect for one another, along with lots of love, is the recipe for all married couples to follow.

Juan Delgado looks much younger than his 91 years. What’s his secret for living a long life? Eating healthy — he doesn’t consume greasy food — exercise and no drinking or smoking, he said.

He still walks around now and then but can’t do a lot of walking because of his worn knees. Although he sometimes has to use his wheelchair to get around, he often lends it to his wife for her to use.

Serafina Delgado, 79, said she needs the wheelchair to help keep her balance. She has no problems with her legs; however, she has a hard time keeping her balance.

"If my head starts to lean forward I can fall," she said as she moves her head.

Because of her balancing problems, Serafina finds it difficult to get in and out of her home. With no railing to hold onto while climbing up and down some small steps that lead up to her home, she has to rely on family members to assist her. When no one is around, she has to stay inside because she’s afraid of falling on the steps.

The couple’s children visit and call often to make sure they are OK, she said.

The Delgados said it would be nice to have some rails built alongside the steps or even a ramp for a wheelchair. They could also use another wheelchair for Juan since Serafina often uses his.

The couple receives Social Security checks and that money is used to pay for necessities, such as food, water and electricity. They are also using the money to help prepay for their funerals, so their children won’t have to worry about the expense.

Although they’ve sought estimates on how much it would cost to have rails built along the steps, the cost is too high.

"We don’t have the money," Serafina Delgado said.

The Brownsville couple has worked just about all their lives as farmworkers. They met while picking cotton.

They dedicated themselves to hard work. Besides working as a migrant worker, Juan Delgado worked as a laborer doing construction work.

Serafina also packaged shrimp.

Juan Delgado sits straight up in a chair with his feet crossed at times as he listens to his wife talk about how they met and how he first asked her out.

The relationship started with a letter, which he gave a friend to give to her, she said. His face lights up with a smile as his wife reveals the content of that letter.

Juan Delgado asked her if she liked him and if she would go out with him, Serafina said as she looks at her husband.

Dressed in a red Christmas sweater and wearing blue slippers on her feet, she talks about how the two courted for three years before they married. She was 19. He was 31.

Her father found out about her future husband after accidentally finding letters Juan wrote to her.

Her father thought he was a good match and would be good for her, Serafina recalls.

Some 60 years later the Delgado’s marriage remains strong. Although Serafina admits she and her husband have health issues to deal with, her faith is what keeps her strong, she said.

"I have much faith in God," Serafina said. "I didn’t think God was going to give me so much time."