FARMINGTON – Love may be shown through cards and flowers today, but there are 16 sets of couples who show their love for other people weekly at Franklin Memorial Hospital.

Wallace (Skip) and Erlane Dyke of Farmington do it because they enjoy helping people.

“I feel like I’m doing something for somebody else,” Erlane Dyke said Wednesday of her work on the escort desk where she may help patients find different departments. “Sometimes, when they are scared or upset, it helps to talk with them.”

Skip Dyke, and Ivan Howard of Farmington, can be found working the escort desk on Monday mornings, he said.

“From the minute they walk in, I try to bring a smile to them to help take the edge off what they are thinking about,” Skip Dyke said.

A warm greeting, help with wheelchairs or exiting cars or even parking cars is part of the service, he said. The couple has been donating their time on Mondays for more than four years.

Brought together after each had lost their first spouse to cancer, the couple wed in the hospital chapel 21 years ago, she said. Their sons were friends, she added.

A wedding planned for New Year’s in a local church was moved to the chapel after Erlane’s daughter-in-law was admitted to the hospital for emergency surgery. The couple planned the event to include only her two children, his three children and their families. By having the ceremony at the chapel, her daughter-in-law was also able to attend, she said.

They have 12 grandchildren whose activities are top on the list for events to attend, she said. Spending time with their family, travel, faith, volunteering, and seasonal work for Skip with EL Vining round out their lives together, they added.

From a friendly greeting at the door or mail room work done out of sight, the volunteer list at FMH tops 200, said Jan Hannaford, director of Volunteer Services, Wednesday.

With some volunteers in Florida in the winter and others at camps in the summer, the active list of volunteers reaches about 150, she said.

“Compared to other hospitals, it’s a robust program that represents over 25,000 hours of time given last year,” Hannaford said. “While most of the couples are retired, there are also a lot of folks that have the time and want to help.”

Many couples, like the Dykes, volunteer at the same time, although they don’t always perform the same duties.