Hilltop Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center will host a Vow Renewal Ceremony for Hilltop Residents and their spouses on Friday.

The ceremony will be at 2:30 p.m. at the Hilltop Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

The ceremony is also open community members. The event is free of charge.

Rachel Cox, the activities director at Hilltop, said when they had it last year, there was a big turnout for residents and the community.

“The love in this room is crazy,” she said. “Everyone’s on the same page, the same level.”

To prepare for the event, staff at Hilltop looked for residents who were ready to renew their vows.

“It gives you some hope that true love is still out there,” Cox said.

There have been some emotional moments at past vow renewal ceremonies.

“It’s very emotional, and we’re so proud we can offer the residents that,” Cox said. “There is not a dry eye in the place.”

One of these emotional moments happened when one resident who was wheelchair bound said she wanted to stand to deliver her vows.

The woman was able to stand with the help of a certified nursing assistant.

“She said she wanted to look her husband straight in the eye,” Cox said. “She found the strength to stand up and renew her love.”

The ceremony will be treated as a wedding ceremony, complete with cake, refreshments and musical entertainment.

There will also be a pastor presiding over the renewals.

The pastor, Patrick Booth, also officiates the center’s bible study.

“It’s awesome,” Cox said. “We have a really special event when you get here.”

The love at Hilltop is not only exemplified on the vow renewal ceremony day.

It is also shown by a couple who stay together at the Center.

“It’s like they’re one,” Cox said. “When you ask her what she wants to drink, she will look at him to see what he wants. Their love is amazing.”

She said divorces are more common in today’s culture.

“It’s so easy to get a divorce.” she said. “When people don’t get along, they will just go to the courthouse.”

Despite the normalcy of divorces, Cox said the relationships members in the home have could not be matched.

“One resident with dementia has a husband who visits her three to four times a day,” Cox said. “It’s hard to find love like that anymore.”

Cassie Buchman can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].