Hey there! This week, we get to meet another Spotlight Couple to get some inspiration for our own modern Catholic marriages. I’m excited to introduce you to some of my family’s longest-running friends, the Savoies! My mom met Teresa Savoie at the mom’s group at church when the Savoies’ oldest son, Phil, and I were just babies. Since then, both families have had two more kids, and the Savoies were in and out of the area with the Coast Guard, but we stayed close through it all! We especially loved camping with them in the fall (keep reading for a great throwback picture!). Nowadays, my parents have season tickets to see plays throughout the year with Ken, Teresa, and their daughter, Jessi.

Besides being dear friends, the Savoies have a great marriage and a strong faith life, and I know my readers will be inspired by them! So without futher ado… Ken and Teresa Savoie.

1. Tell us your story.

Teresa and Ken met in New Jersey. Ken was in the Coast Guard, stationed at Governor’s Island in New York harbor. Teresa, who was working for AT&T, had just transferred to New Jersey and was living with Ken’s cousin and her husband until she could find her own accommodations. Ken’s cousin invited him to dinner on a weekend. This was definitely not a blind date set up! However, the two really hit it off- they had a wonderful time eating and afterwards playing ping pong. The rest is, as they say, history.

They were married September 17, 1988 on Governor’s Island and had three children, Phillip (30 yrs old), Jessica (29), and Nathan (26). Over Ken’s Coast Guard career, they were stationed in Key West, FL; Alexandria, VA; Seattle, WA; back to Alexandria, VA; and finally Martinsburg, WV (and lived in Winchester, VA). Ken retired from the Coast Guard after 27 years.

Teresa stayed home with the kids until all were in school. She worked part time as the “kitchen lady” at their school, which was great for staying involved in their young lives. After watching Phil and Rachel get married via Skype (due to COVID) in Germany in April, 2020, they were blessed with their first grandchild, Colette, in April, 2021.

2. What do you two like to do together?

We definitely love traveling together. Our recent epic adventure was a trip to Alaska in our truck camper. We were together constantly for three months, and had a great time.
Teresa loves playing card games, so Ken likes to accommodate her in that endeavor. The most recent passion is playing Samba, a fairly involved card game, but they also like playing Yahtzee on her phone while waiting for their order at a restaurant.
Living out in the country, they also very much like taking walks together on a routine basis around the neighborhood.

3. What does your domestic church look like?

Whenever we travel in the car, we almost always say the rosary, whether it’s a long trek or just a trip into town.
We also have become involved in a rosary group that meets at a friend’s house every Wednesday night, where we say the rosary with a number of couples.
In the past, we have both been lay eucharistic ministers at various parishes we have belonged.
Also, in the past, we found it spiritually fulfilling when for a particular mass we were lay eucharistic ministers and our three children were also involved as altar boys and lay reader.
Lastly, we have tried to make it a regular habit to say grace before meals, regardless of where we are eating. That wasn’t something we always did in the past for some unknown reason.

4. What was a trial you faced in your marriage? How did you handle it?

Fairly early in our marriage, I was stationed on a ship out of Seattle. When we moved there, our three children were five years old and younger, and there was no family to assist on that coast. So, when I would get underway to sail in the Bering Sea for two months, three times a year, Teresa was left alone with the three children.

As we were pulling away from the pier in Seattle to get underway, I would look back at Teresa with the kids waving from the dock. Although sea duty in the Bering Sea is challenging and arduous, I knew who had the tougher job for the next two months. I still have the memory of watching Teresa pull away in our van with my daughter’s face smashed against the window looking back at me in tears. Our oldest child’s teacher told us once, “You don’t have to tell me when you’re getting underway or coming back from patrol. I can tell by your child’s demeanor what is going on.” So, underway time was a significant burden on the family. As Teresa told me once in port, “I never wanted to be a single mom.” But, that is exactly what she was.

Having the two oldest children in Catholic school in Seattle helped, because even in my absence Teresa and the kids were around a faith filled community. And of course, regular attendance at mass was a must and greatly assisted in getting us through that tough stretch.

5. If you could give one piece of advice to a newly married couple, what would it be?

Keep plugging away, and keep talking. Continue to have date nights; it is a must to put the marriage ahead of the kids! During Lent we would hire a baby sitter and go to Stations of the Cross at church by ourselves…..and then afterwards get an ice cream! It always was a nice break.

6. With Thanksgiving this month, we have been talking all about gratitude. What is one thing about your marriage that you are especially grateful for?

We’re grateful that both of us are blessed with strong planning and organizational skills that have greatly assisted us in a multitude of moves during a 27 year Coast Guard career. Being able to stand down a house at one location and get things ramped up somewhere else, and to keep the household functioning fairly smoothly is not to be taken for granted!

Thank you for sharing, Savoie family!

If YOU would like to be a future Spotlight Couple here on the blog, comment below or contact me via Facebook or Instagram. And even if you don’t want to be featured, you could still just go ahead and follow me/ like my pages real quick. Thanks, friends!