Vera and Richard: Finding love again

If there was ever an inspiring love story it is that of Vera Peel and Richard Buhler of East Feliciana.
Theirs is not a first love or love through the ages tale, since they never dated as teens, even though they’ve known each other for 65 years. Both will tell you: “We were not each others’ first loves.”
“Once he met his wife, that was it for Richard, there was no one after that,” Peel says while sitting at her kitchen table with Buhler nearby gazing affectionately at his fiancé.
Vera Castello Peel, 76, of Ethel, and Richard Dennis Buhler, 78, of Slaughter, grew up a few miles apart. Both graduated from Clinton High School she in the class of ‘56, he the class of ‘53.
Buhler played football on a state championship team; Peel was a cheerleader who excelled in track and field, basketball and softball. “We were both into sports. That was our thing,” Peel said.
They each married their first loves and spent many years building nests and caring for their respective families. Buhler has five children, 16 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
He was widowed five years ago, losing his wife to cancer.
Peel, whose husband died 34 years ago, lost her only child, a daughter, to cancer. She then helped raise her granddaughter and now looks after her two great-grandchildren, ages 3 and 6, who live just steps away from her Ethel home.
Over the years, Richard and Vera would see one another and a wave, hug or chat would follow.
Destiny had other plans for the former classmates. One day, Buhler telephoned Peel and asked her to go for a ride to see the newly built John James Audubon Bridge. Peel told him, “I’d love to!”
The bridge trip turned into a leisurely drive that ended at the USS Kidd in downtown Baton Rouge, followed by long lunch. “We saw each other every day for over a year after that,” says Peel. “And when we didn’t see each other, we’d speak on the phone.”
Since then, the two have been inseparable. They joke that their fateful drive over the bridge that day relates to the song, Bridge Over Troubled Water, which they share hearty laughs about today.
Just before Christmas 2013, Buhler presented Peel with an engagement ring and proposed. And yes, he got down on one knee. A mutual friend of theirs joked, “Yes, but could he get back up again?”
Everyone who knows the couple seems overjoyed and supportive that the two have found love. Neither Buhler or Peel ever expected to marry again. “We weren’t looking for someone to replace our first loves,” says Buhler.
The love they share is not the same as their first loves or marriages, the couple admits. It is a love and respect for what the other one does. “We never dreamed we’d be dating and planning a wedding at our age!” they said. “But here we are!”
Their love is about doing and sharing things together, gathering things from the garden, and cooking and planning meals together. Their love is enjoying fellowship with others, helping others and sharing their church families together.
Peel attends Ethel Baptist Church and when there is an event, Buhler is on her arm. He is a member of First Baptist Church in Zachary, and when FBCZ has a function, Peel is by her man’s side.
They are both strong in their faiths and religious beliefs, including that a man and woman must not share everything, that is until they are married. But like all other newly engaged couples, they are head over heels and literally giddy when they speak about one another. When asked if she’s practiced saying her new name aloud, ‘Vera Buhler,’ Peel replied like any blushing bride-to-be would: “No, but I have practiced writing it!”
The couple’s love is about sharing memories together and speaking freely with one another. It’s about the joy of having a dear friend by your side to share your happiness and your heartaches…one that gives you loving and sincere support, they said. “It is a wonderful love when you have someone to hold you as you share laughter and someone to hold you when you cry to assure you everything’s going to be all right,” Peel says. “It’s also very special when you have someone to pray with you and for you.”
“People see how happy we are and how we enjoy doing the same things together,” they said. To those who know them and to those who do not, Buhler and Peel are an inspiration that you can love again after loss and you can find love at any age.
“It’s not about finding a duplicate spouse or first love, that will never happen. It’s about finding companionship, someone you enjoy doing things with and someone you respect…then love is sure to follow,” Buhler says.
They attend his huge family gatherings together and he is with her when she visits her relatives. “I love to be with his family on all occasions,” says Peel. “And he loves my family in the same way.”
Between the two of them, they are associated with so many people. Many who would love to bear witness to the couple’s union, however, they say they will likely marry in a small, intimate ceremony, just the two of them with their preacher. “Then we’ll have a big party for everyone to help celebrate our marriage!”
Though both are retired — Peel was a state hospital administrator, Buhler worked at Allied Signal (now Honeywell) — they have never been busier.
Buhler attends a weekly men’s prayer breakfast at FBCZ; sits on the board of directors for the Quad Area in Clinton; volunteers for the Bluff Creek Volunteer Fire Department; tends his 40+ acres; raises calves; cuts hay and firewood; grinds stumps; hunts and cares for his beloved Vera in his spare time.
Peel was once on the board of directors for both the East Feliciana Council on Aging and RKM but now spends several days a week babysitting her great-grandchildren. She also tends her garden; cooks; cans; cares for family; loves the blues and loves to dance, frequenting Teddy’s Juke Joint when she has the time; volunteers at many church activities; and dotes on her beloved Richard.
“We truly believe that through God’s grace and love, we are together at this time. We’re simply beginning a new journey in our lives,” the newly engaged pair said.