In our society today, many people often forget to cherish their relationships. They spend too much time stressing and focusing on small details rather than looking at the bigger picture. Luckily, we have Valentine’s Day: a day dedicated to spending time with those we love and to recall what is really important in a relationship. Math teacher Mr. Tom Cella has given us a look at his own relationship in order for us to see his views on what is truly important.

Mr. Cella met his wife, Carole Cella, through his sister. They went out to dance on their first date and enjoyed each other’s company, so they continued to see each other after that. Mr. Cella had previously dated several girls, but he realized that those relationships weren’t what he was looking for. However, he knew that things were different with Mrs. Cella and realized how important their relationship truly was to him.

“My advice to boys is that you’ll be dating many girls and everything’s fine, but there’s one that will come along that you will really be afraid to lose. When that one’s there, that’s the one that you’ll marry,” said Mr. Cella.

Mr. Cella had finally found the one that he was afraid to lose. They dated for about 3 years and then got engaged. Mr. Cella proposed to her during the Christmas season. He put a beautiful ring on the tree and their engagement became official.

Mr. Cella and his wife have now been married for 38 years. He says that his faith life is one of the most important things in his relationship and that faith is “one of the keys” to a long, happy marriage.

“I could go on and on about faith and obviously religion because I think that it’s really important that two people worship together. I think that sometimes what happens is that somebody may be one religion and somebody’s not that same religion and they find that it’s a hard thing to have a common ground. I think that they really need to work at converting the other person, which would be good, or finding a different church where they can worship together–not where they have to go, but where they really want to go together,” said Mr. Cella.

God gifted Mr. and Mrs. Cella with two kids, Andrew and Rachel, who both took after their parents and pursued careers in education. Mrs. Cella is currently a substitute teacher, but has also been involved in interior decorating. Before coming into work each morning, Mr. Cella drinks coffee from his cup that says, “Mr. Right” and Mrs. Cella drinks from her cup that says, “Mrs. Always Right.” Mr. Cella is very proud of his wife for all of her hard work and encourages women to be independent when it comes to their careers.

“To the girls I say, become very, very educated and independent and so when you find the right guy, you’re not marrying him for his money; you have your own, which is good. I’m not saying it’s not good to have money support. You know in the old days, many, many years ago, girls got married and then they stayed home and the guy worked and stuff like that, and that was okay, that was fine. That’s the way it was. But now girls need to say ‘Hey, if it’s not working,’ (hopefully it works, but if it’s not working) ‘I’m okay, I can support myself’,” said Mr. Cella.

Mr. and Mrs. Cella are a great example of the kind of relationship that people should strive and work for. They have the dedication and determination that helps a relationship grow. We are so blessed to have Mr. Cella at our school. He is always smiling and is always a great help to students, whether it’s help with their math homework or advice for Valentine’s Day. He shares the spirit of love throughout all of St. Dominic, creating a better place to learn and love.