Skype Connects Proud Grandparents to Wedding 2,000 Miles Away

Mickey and Magda Quittner are 86 years old. They have collected a wealth of memories throughout the course of their eventful lives.

On Sunday evening, the couple that has been married for 66 years shared yet another poignant memory — a memory that Mickey says is the most valuable one of his life thus far.

The Quittners live at the , a retirement community in Sarasota for both independent and assisted living. The Quittners’ granddaughter, Michelle, lives in Breckinridge, CO, where she was wed late Sunday afternoon.

It has been said that a wedding day is just as meaningful for the bride and groom as it is for their parents and grandparents, who experience a milestone of their own when their progeny ceremoniously turns the page to a new chapter in life.

“We only have one son and two grandchildren, a boy and a girl,” said Mickey. “They are loving and caring children, and family is the most important part of our lives. It is important for us to be a part of this day.”

But due to health complications, Mickey and Magda Quittner could not travel to Colorado to attend the wedding.

Darlene Arbeit, the Executive Director of the Housing Council at Kobernick, warned the family that the trip and the Colorado altitude would be detrimental for the Quittners’ health. Not willing to let Magda and Mickey miss out on such a meaningful moment, the staff at Kobernick House came up with a unique solution that would allow the couple to attend the wedding without actually traveling.

With the help of a tech-savvy staff, Mickey and Magda attended Michelle’s wedding on Sunday via Skype, a web-conferencing tool that allows individuals to video-chat from their computers.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Magda, who has never used a computer. “Who would think that this could happen?”

“A week ago, I couldn’t believe this would happen,” said Mickey. “Two days ago, I couldn’t believe it would happen. Today it’s happening and I still have a hard time believing it.”

At 6 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, Magda and Mickey Quittner were joined by approximately 60 friends and staff members from the Kobernick House as the wedding ceremony was broadcast on a large projection screen.

Despite a few brief moments of technical difficulty when the Internet connection was lost, the proud grandparents were able to watch and listen to their only granddaughter exchanged her wedding vows 2,000 miles across the country.

Mickey and Magda sat in the front row and held hands for the duration of the ceremony. They were met with a chorus of “Mazel tov!” from their fellow Kobernick residents, staff members and friends who came out to join them for the occasion. Following the broadcast of the ceremony, a reception was held with refreshments for the guests.

Patricia Horwell, Director of Public Relations at the Kobernick House, snapped several pictures to send to Michelle and her new husband, Brandon James.

“I bet they don’t have any idea how many people attended their wedding in Florida,” Horwell said.

Horwell went on to add that she was pleased with the outcome of the event, and said that Kobernick has already received a request to hold another Skype wedding ceremony.

Mickey and Magda's story

The journey that led Mickey and Magda Quittner to this momentous day has been an incredible one.

The Quittners, both of whom are Jewish, were born in Hungary. They met during World War II at the age of 17, only six months before Mickey was taken to a labor camp. Magda, who had American citizenship because her parents were from the United States, was brought to a ghetto and imprisoned.

Mickey escaped from the prison camp, and Magda was eventually released from jail. The young lovebirds found their way back to one another and acquired falsified papers to mask their Jewish identities.

“From there, we had to escape in order to save our lives,” Magda said.

The couple went to work in an ambulatory clinic in Budapest, for a doctor who posed as a Nazi so as to covertly rescue the lives of other Jewish people. With the help of this doctor, they were among 250 young Jewish people who were arranged to be transported to safe haven in Palestine.

They left Hungary and traveled to Austria first. From there, they were to travel through Italy, but were detained. They were taken to a displaced person’s camp in Germany, where they were wed in 1945. It took more than three years for the couple to attain the paperwork that would allow them to immigrate to the United States, so their first and only son was born in that camp.

When they finally arrived in the United States, they settled in New York City, where Mickey ran a kosher deli for nearly two decades before coming to Florida.

For 18 years, Mickey has volunteered with the Kobernick House as a masgiach, an individual who supervises food production to ensure that it is kosher. Within the past two years, Mickey and Magda have moved into Kobernick’s independent living.

Mickey has retained his role as masgiach, and Magda is part of a knitting group in the community. The group makes baby blankets for the nursery at Sarasota Memorial Hospital and, most recently, knitted scarves and beanies to send to soldiers serving in the Middle East.

Although the couple’s life together is filled with a wealth of tremendous hurdles and accomplishments, Mickey said that attending their granddaughter’s wedding was the greatest moment of his life. Following the ceremony, he stood to address the crowd that came out to join him and his wife in celebration.

“This moment — this has been the biggest event of my life,” Mickey said. “This is one of the nicest things I’ve ever seen done. I’m just so grateful for it — for everyone who made this possible and for everyone here.”

The Quittners, who recently renewed their vows, had simple words of wisdom to impart to their granddaughter and grandson-in-law as they begin their lives together.

“Love each other, understand each other and always listen,” said Magda.

“For the two of them, I hope for happiness and that they always hold respect and love for each other. I am just so happy for them and so thankful that I could be here for this.”