SPOKANE, WA (KXLY/CNN) – A couple named Harvey and Irma are amazed by the hurricanes that bear their names. Also amazing is the fact that the couple has been married for 75 years.
When they first heard the news they thought their daughter was playing a joke on them. "Oh, yeah, sure, and she looked at me and said, 'Mom, I'm telling you the truth.' Oh, I'm sorry,” said Irma Schluter, 92.
Because how could two devastating hurricanes be named after two very sweet people. Irma married now 104-year-old Harvey Schluter.
"I remember the first airplane I saw," she said. "So, we all jumped up and went and looked at the airplane."
The couple met in Spokane many, many, years ago. It turns out their siblings knew each other. "And I opened the door and I saw a soldier and I shut the door because I didn't know who it was,” she said. Irma would eventually open her heart to Harvey and the two married in 1942.
Harvey later opened a barber shop in town. "I think he's pretty special right now," Irma said.
They raised three children which turned into a handful of grandchildren. However, they've helped raise more than 100 foster children. And that took a key character trait, he said. "A lot of patience," he said. "Yeah, that's the whole thing," she added.
As for sharing names with two devastating storms, they're not sure what to think. It's hard for them to even watch the coverage. "It's so sad and I don't like that. It bothers me,” she said.
In 75 years of marriage, they've learned at least one thing. "Each one's gotta have love,” he said.
That and faith says Irma, which are two things that were here before and will be here after the other Harvey and Irma pass into history.
Irma has a birthday coming up. She'll be 93 in November.
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