Fabian Tasson said it was love at first sight when he met his future wife Barb at a gathering more than five decades ago.
“The moment I danced with her I knew I would spend my life with her,” he said.
Sealing the deal was when Barb, a Central Illinois native, took him to Allerton Park for the first time.
“Would you like to see a magical place?” she asked him. “It’s a magic place in the prairie in the middle of the corn and soybeans. I think you’re going to be shocked,” Barb said.
Fabian, who grew up in Michigan, was indeed surprised, especially when he eyed the House of the Golden Buddhas.
About two years later — at 10 a.m. on a Monday morning, Aug. 19 of 1968 — the couple was married at that spot, on the upper floor of the House of the Golden Buddhas.
In honor of their 55th anniversary, the Tassons expressed their thanks by sponsoring a bench right next to where they took their marriage vows.
“We wanted to leave our mark of gratitude to the park,” Fabian said of the donation.
Happy Anniversary, Barb and Fabian. Wishing you many more!
Do you have a love story to share? Send it to seh7@illinois.edu.
