Love Story: It was youth (group) that brought them together

Carol Doukas (nee Flanagan) of Ronkonkoma recalls meeting her future husband at church.

George and I met in the early 1960s as members of the Hollis Avenue Congregational Church in Queens Village, where we both grew up. A few years later, we got to know each other in the youth group there and started dating.

Our first date was in 1967 at a miniature golf course in Douglaston, Queens, when I was 15 and he was 17. When George turned 18, he took me to the Copacabana in Manhattan. His dad was the head waiter and had gotten us a front-row table to see Don Rickles perform. What a memorable night that was!

George graduated in 1969 from the former Andrew Jackson High School in Cambria Heights. During high school, my family moved to Long Island, so I graduated from Hicksville High School in 1970. George and I went to each other’s proms.

George attended Hudson Valley Community College in Albany, and I went to work at Grumman Aerospace in Bethpage.

George surprised me with a proposal at my parents’ home on Christmas Eve in 1971. At my mother’s request, we waited to get married until I turned 20, tying the knot on Dec. 2, 1972, three days after my birthday. The wedding was held at the church where we met — and where my parents also were married. We had a reception with 125 people at Ziggy’s in Massapequa. We honeymooned in Nassau, Bahamas. After the wedding, we settled in Ronkonkoma.

I worked at Grumman Aerospace in Bethpage until 1978, when our daughter, Amy, was born. We later had two sons, Jason and Ryan, and I was a stay-at-home mom until the children were in school.

Later, I worked as an administrative assistant for Hewlett-Packard and then at NBC in Manhattan until 2000. After college, George joined the Navy in 1971, but he had to leave because of double-vision issues. Afterward, he worked as a project manager for Hewlett-Packard. He still works for them as a contractor. I am a part-time travel agent.

We love to travel, especially cruises! George is a lay speaker and constant volunteer at our current church, The United Methodist Church of Lake Ronkonkoma.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer three years ago, and I can’t imagine going through that without a supportive and loving spouse like George. He has been my rock, staying by my side throughout my treatments and surgeries. George has had health issues, too, including a quadruple bypass and a stroke. Miraculously, he recovered completely from both. Our wedding vows “in sickness and in health” have been very meaningful to us.

On Dec. 3, 2022, we celebrated our 50th anniversary at the Elks Lodge in Centereach. Our three children, their spouses and all six grandchildren, plus many relatives and friends, were there. We even had about 20 people there who had attended our wedding.

George is the jokester in our family. He loves to tell jokes and make people laugh. He has kept me laughing for more than 50 years, and I hope that continues for many more years! Because I hear so many of his jokes over and over again, I am known as Saint Carol to a lot of his family.

A lot of people told us we were too young to get married, but we sure proved them wrong. I would tell my younger self, “Don’t listen to all those people telling you that you are too young to marry. Listen to your heart and trust in yourself and your spouse, and know that together you can accomplish anything!”

 — With Laura Mann