Rockland love stories: Max and Niquette

Meet Max and Niquette Vales.

If you see them, you’ll most likely find them at Ramapo Senior Activity Center. 

“Since I came to the center from the first day, I came here every day. I feel happy with my age and the time I have with my husband. I say thanks to God everyday,” Niquette said. 

Max and Niquette, who have been married for 56 years, met through her brother.

He went to a picnic, where he met the music-loving guy Max.

“That same day when my brother got home, he bought a guitar and tried to play. Then one day, Max stopped by my house,” she said. “They were talking, playing guitar and I passed by to go out and he saw me. I saw him too…and then I left.”

From when their eyes first met, Max kept returning every day, every afternoon.

One glance would turn into a friendship and blossom into a marriage full of adventures.

They’ve been to many places, including Paris, London, Italy, Belgium and Switzerland.

“You know when people sing, ‘Riiicolaaaa!’? We went all the way to the top of the mountains,” she said.

Niquette, who will be turning 80 soon, and Max who is 86, now share three beautiful children and six grandchildren. 

What is the key to a successful marriage?

Niquette shared that in every relationship, there are good days and bad days. 

“It’s not an easy life, but you have to try and make it out. You meet someone and they treat you good, try to make it out,” she said. “You see, Max and I, even if we have something between us -if I am mad at him or he’s mad at me- we never go to bed like enemies,” she said. 

The Vales couple is well known at the Ramapo Senior Activity Center, where they spend most of their time.

“Everybody tells him, he’s a quiet man. He’s a quiet man if you see him, but he’s a big talker,” Niquette laughed.

Ramapo Senior Activity Center is one of the four centers part of Meals on Wheels Rockland. 

Their senior activity centers “offer a warm, welcoming ‘home away from home’ to hundreds of Rockland residents” and they have locations in Nanuet, Nyack, Orangetown and New City. 

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