Ivan Gladish is a very romantic fellow. When it came time in 2010 to propose to his lady love, the appropriately named Priti, he took her to a wonderful Italian restaurant on Valentine’s Day, got down on one knee, offered her a red rose and ring, and asked for her hand in marriage. Happily for both, she accepted.
Exactly one year later, on Valentine’s Day 2011, on an unseasonably cold Siesta Key beach at sunset, Ivan and Priti became man and wife. The bride wore a sari while the groom sported white trousers and shirt, set off by a leather necklace with wooden beads he had made for himself and his best man. The couple was surrounded by about sixty friends from Sun-N-Fun, all bundled in hoodies and jackets, supplying what warmth there was, in a ceremony officiated by Sun-N-Fun General Manager, Tim Deputy, who among his many talents has the authority to perform weddings.
After many pictures, guitar music from Priti’s dance teacher, and a champagne toast on the beach – “My hands were shaking, but with the cold,” Ivan explains – they returned to Sun-N-Fun and a grand party thrown by their friends in the Pavilion.
“When we started to let people know we were getting married, a committee of ladies – Carol Williston, Rita Edmondson, Ann Marie Rose, Sharon Rigby, Nancy Gillis, Penny Emmett and Dora Carvalho – took on the responsibility for overseeing various aspects of the wedding and party and all helped to make it an event as lovely, fun and unforgettable as my wife,” Ivan says, still obviously in awe at his good fortune in his choice of a bride and the kindness and thoughtfulness of their friends.
The wedding was a long time coming and the story behind it is as romantic in its way as the wedding.
Ivan was a fireman in Nottingham, England where his best mate was a fellow named Dave. After working together for nearly twenty years, Dave brought around a beautiful woman he would soon marry. That woman was Priti. Not too many months later, Ivan married as well. The two couples were great friends, vacationing together when they could in France. Eventually Ivan retired and bought a sailboat where he lived with his wife on the Spanish Mediterranean.
In 1998, Ivan and his wife came to the states. He was looking for a car and an RV they could rent and use to tour. That brought him to Sun-N-Fun and he decided to make the Resort his base. Over the next few years they traveled to every state in the Union, save Hawaii, Alaska and North Dakota. When the touring was done Ivan, who had fallen in love with Florida’s West Coast and Sun-N-Fun, decided to purchase a vacation home here. Not long after, he and his wife divorced.
When friend Dave finally retired from the fire brigade, he and Priti moved to Spain, where they bought a home. But when Dave took ill and passed away, Ivan went to Spain to help Priti get over the loss. In time, the deep feelings that the two had shared for so many years as close friends turned to love and they decided to spend the rest of their lives together.
And so, for the last four years they have been splitting their time between Sun-N-Fun and Spain, where Priti, who speaks English, French, Spanish, Catalan, German and Punjavi, works part time in the travel business. Here, she spends her time preparing for the yearly talent show, rehearsing her dance routines four or five days a week. Ivan stays fit swimming, working in the workshop, and playing Petanque.
Priti and Ivan’s marriage truly is a happily ever after story, and the joy in their voices when they speak of one another proves once again that love can be sweet the second time around.
