The family home where the Mais married is now the site of a produce stand, but they returned to celebrate there anyway.
By PAMELA GRINER LEAVY
Published June 3, 2004
LARGO - Orange grove blossoms scented the air when Lorene Catrett and Albert Mai married at her parents' home on June 2, 1954.
On Wednesday, when the couple returned to celebrate their 50th anniversary, that aroma had been replaced by the smells of ripe tomatoes, watermelon and sweet onions.
The Catrett family home at 11500 Walsingham Road and its towering camphor tree are long gone. Now the property offers space for a tree stump, along with cigarette butts, fast-food litter, and a produce and fruit stand.
The Mais said they decided in mid May to mark their golden anniversary at the nuptial spot.
Under the blazing midday sun, the couple opened a gold-covered card table, hoisted gold and black balloons and displayed orange and blue Florida Gator tray tables. They exchanged kisses, toasted each other with ice water and waved at passing motorists.
A wicker picnic basket filled with rare roast beef sandwiches, grilled chicken, red bliss potato salad and carrot cake cheesecake from the Black Cat Catering & Gourmet-To-Go in Largo sat on the ground.
Nostalgia led to the anniversary return, said Albert Mai.
"I buy fruit there occasionally when I'm down that way, and I just thought it would be neat with 50 years of memories," he said.
Lorene Mai echoed her husband's sentiments.
"Remembering the past and where we started and just looking back on the past was neat," she said.
In a nearby car with the air conditioner running sat Lomax Catrett, Lorene Mai's mother. Mai's father, Shelby Catrett, died in 1960 on the couple's 25th anniversary.
Lomax Catrett still approves of her daughter's marriage.
"I didn't see 50 years of being married like they have," she said. "She couldn't have picked a better man than him."
In addition to raising three children, both Mais established careers.
In 1954, he became the first meter reader for the Pinellas County Water Department. He retired in 1986. Before Lorene Mai received her registered nurse degree from St. Petersburg Junior College, she attended night classes in licensed practical nursing. She was named Suncoast Hospital's nurse of the year in 1992 and retired in 1998.
Lorene Mai said her husband's support made her nursing career possible. After a full day at work, he took care of the family at night.
Marriage is teamwork, said Albert Mai.
"The only secret would be: It's a two-way deal and you have to work together," he said. "I cooked a full meat-and-potatoes meal at night, and we took care of the kids with no babysitters."
The produce stand party wasn't the only celebration. The couple's children hosted a surprise party for 100 at Largo Country Club on May 29. The Mais plan a four-week second honeymoon, driving to Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina.
