By Landan Kuhlmann From Fort Bend Star

Jesse and Rosalinda Vargas were supposed to be packing their bags Saturday afternoon in preparation for a weeklong family cruise to Jamaica, Mexico and the Cayman Islands to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced them to put the trip on hold, but their family surprised them by bringing a taste of Mexico to their own backyard. About 50 friends and family members gathered at the couple’s Sugar Land home Saturday afternoon to celebrate their five decades of matrimony, with a mariachi band serenading Jesse and Rosalinda as they sat outside.

Their adult daughter Margaret arranged the event, complete with sparkling signs that said, “CONGRATS, TO 50 YEARS!” surrounded by giant champagne glasses and fireworks. She said the party was a perfect way, under the circumstances, to celebrate her parents.

“I think they’re just great examples of great people who go above and beyond for others,” she said. “They’re definitely an inspiration.”

Both Jesse, 73, and Rosalinda, 72, are vulnerable to serious complications from COVID-19, the contagious upper-respiratory disease that has been especially dangerous to the elderly. About 25 percent of reported cases in Fort Bend County have been found in those at least 60 years of age.

So the family brought the party to them with a well-kept secret.

“We didn’t know anything about this at all,” Jesse said as the music floated through the air, noting they only discovered the plan Friday night. “We thought we were just going to get together and go out to eat.”

The Vargas couple crossed path as teens at Sugar Land Middle School in the early 1960s, when Jesse moved to Sugar Land from Missouri City. Both said the connection was instantaneous, even if they didn’t begin dating until high school.

“When we saw boys from other schools and towns, (my friends and I) were just so excited,” Rosalinda said with a laugh.

As the pair went on to attend Dulles High School together, the attraction only grew stronger with dates to homecoming, prom and other school dances before graduation.

“There were new faces, and we were immediately attracted to each other,” Jesse said.

Jesse proposed to Rosalinda six months after he was discharged from the U.S. Army in 1969, having earned a Purple Heart for his service in Vietnam.

“She said, ‘Yes,’ but then I had to go ask her dad. That was harder than asking her,” he quipped.

They were married on June 6, 1970, and since have been blessed with two children and six grandchildren. Both said the key to their marital longevity has been meeting in the middle when conflict arises, which allows them to head off major arguments.

They know love conquers all, but also know it takes work to make things last. So each tries to put their partner’s needs ahead of their own.

“We’ve got to compromise, because if that doesn’t happen or there’s no understanding, there’s very little chance you’ll make it,” Rosalinda said. “He’s so easygoing and doesn’t demand a lot. It just takes a lot of patience.”

Jesse, a retired oil industry worker, remains ingrained in activities at the local American Legion according to Margaret, while the couple both attend St. Theresa Catholic Church in Sugar Land.

Rosalinda, a former florist and Alief ISD employee who retired in 2014, still attends community functions and goes on near daily walks with girlfriends.

In life and in marriage, the two have put others before themselves, culminating in a life that inspires their children.

“They’ll be together forever,” Margaret said.

The Vargases have no plans for anything different. From the very beginning of their journey as youngsters, they’ve only had eyes for each other.

“We’ve made it through 50 years,” Rosalinda said. “And we’re going to make it for the rest of our lives.”

For more on this story go to: http://www.fortbendstar.com/mariachi-band-makes-special-anniversary-for-elderly-sugar-land-couple/