A World Conflict II veteran rang in his 102nd birthday surrounded by family members in Florida — however stated “the best is yet to come” as he units out to cross off his bucket-list targets, together with a long-awaited bar mitzvah.
New York Metropolis native Harold Terens was overcome with love and gratitude Saturday morning as he celebrated one other yr of life with dozens of family and friends, amongst them his second spouse, three youngsters, eight grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren, at a lodge in Delray Seashore.
“Best day of my life, believe it or not, and I’ve had so many,” Terens instructed The Publish, including he felt his beloved first spouse, Thelma, with whom he was married for 70 years, was there in spirit.
“I thought my wedding last year in Normandy was the best day of my life, but I think today topped it. And believe me, the best is yet to come. You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Whereas the centenarian spent his birthday brunch mambo dancing along with his 97-year-old sweetheart, Jeanne, and being serenaded by his a cappella-singing granddaughter, he’s already waiting for how he’ll profit from his milestone yr.
A few of these bucket checklist objects embody a 10-day transatlantic journey, the place the “ballet buff” plans to soak up the opera in Milan, catch a ballet in Paris, and head to the UK to listen to the London Philharmonic.
The vigorous senior then intends to mark his 103rd birthday with a bar mitzvah ceremony on the Pentagon in Washington, DC, subsequent summer time – a significant achievement he was denied as a toddler.
“My mother is from Poland and my father is from Russia,” he stated.
“My mother was religious. My father was anti-religion, and they had two sons and they agreed that my older brother would be bar mitzvahed and then I would not, [to] pacify my father.”
Subsequent yr’s momentous event took form after Terens was talking on a panel with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and a Pentagon rabbi overheard him point out his lifelong want to have a bar mitzvah.
“That is definitely on my bucket list and that is truly going to happen,” he joyfully stated, noting that 80 of his closest family and friends members have already been added to the visitor checklist.
“It will be a sensational event. My entire family will be there along with friends. They’ll all come. No one will miss that event.”
Terens enlisted in 1942 and was despatched to Nice Britain the next yr, serving as a radio restore technician for a four-pilot P-47 Thunderbolt fighter squadron. All his authentic pilots died within the warfare.
On D-Day — the place greater than 150,000 Allied troops invaded 5 Nazi Germany-occluded seashores in Normandy on June 6, 1944 — he aided in repairing planes getting back from France, with half his firm’s pilots perishing that day.
He has since returned to the fateful spot a number of occasions, together with in 2024 when he was honored by the French for his service, to mark pivotal anniversaries and to wed his new love.
“It’s very emotional every time I go,” stated Terens, who plans to return for the 82nd anniversary.
“I have friends there that I long to see and that gives me a great deal of pleasure. But going with the veterans is very, very special. I’ve had some very memorable moments in Normandy.”
Terens, who has met 5 US presidents, together with George Bush Sr., Invoice Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Donald Trump, stated the key to his longevity and drive is easy: decrease stress.
However reflecting on his lengthy life, the Lake Price resident considers himself the luckiest man alive.
“I think I’m the richest guy in the world and I don’t have any money in the bank,” Terens boasted.
“I wouldn’t trade my life with anyone in the world no matter who it was. I am happy just who I am and with what I have. I think I have more than anyone else in the world. I am the luckiest guy that God ever created. When I say the best is yet to come, I don’t know what it is but it’s there. I promise you.”
