CUPID'S GREATEST HITS LOVE ARROWS REMAIN IN THREE VALLEY COUPLES.

Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer

David Kaye locked eyes 71 years ago with a flamboyant beauty from the Bronx and wore out the pavement for weeks in hopes of finding her again.

``It was just a second; I knew something happened,'' recalled Sylvia Kaye, his wife of nearly 66 years, of the gray-meets-hazel teen flash.

``He showed up at my door out of the clear blue sky. He appeared at the door - and I never got rid of him again. ... We couldn't live without each other.''

While beaus offer chocolates and roses for Valentine's Day on Monday, a pantheon of married couples will celebrate a lifetime of abiding love, including three San Fernando Valley couples.

Together, the Kayes of Northridge, Paul and Elizabeth Moran of North Hills and Cuauhtemoc and Rita Torres of Mission Hills have been married a total of 155 years.

Each couple has sacrificed. Each has children and grandchildren. Each half can finish the other's sentences. Each makes the other whole.

And each spouse would rather spend time with their beloved over anyone else on the planet - dancing, traveling, shopping, sharing cake or a quiet meal.

``There was a feeling all my life that there was no one better than her,'' said David Kaye, 86, admiring Sylvia at their kitchen table, wrapping his arm around her shoulder as he did their first night at the movies. In his wallet are striking photos of his wife, at 19, and decades later at their golden wedding anniversary.

``We've done some crazy things,'' she said, her eyes sparkling. ``You know something, we only had one argument in 45 years of working together.''

``And she won it,'' he joked.

He was a New York City fashion photographer. She became his model, the first subject ever to be shot in color by Eastman Kodak. Later, both prospered doing the work of 20 in their frozen-food packing business.

And over the years, they shared one common purpose: to direct tens of millions of dollars in food for the poor via the Encino B'Nai B'rith Food Bank.

Like a pair of swans, both share a lifetime in sync.

``He doesn't have to think for himself because I know what's going on first,'' she said. ``Even if I'm not with him, I know what's going on.''

At another kitchen table across town, Paul and Liz Moran gaze back upon 46 years of marriage. Outside, their his-and-hers license plates read ``1 4 My Mr'' and ``1 4 My Mrs.''

Paul once teased Liz as a girl in Kentucky. Years later he spotted a beautiful women while on leave from the Air Force - and it was her. They spent their first date at an ice cream parlor, and Liz fell for his playful antics.

And throughout the years, he was always there.

He was there during illness after childbirth. He was there to keep house, to tend the children while his wife worked late for Motown Records.

And he was always there with flowers - long-lived rosebushes, not cut flowers.

``He was just always there,'' said Liz Moran, 64, staring at the quiet Vietnam veteran as he listened to the words for the very first time. ``I've never had to think of him not being there.''

``Give a little, take a little, let your heart break a little,'' added her 74-year-old spouse. ``But you have to hang in there, (for) most people's problems aren't so bad.''

In addition to their upbringing, the Morans credit their involvement in Calvary Baptist Church in Pacoima for a lifetime commitment.

``That's the one thing we stuck with is church,'' he said. ``Working for the Lord. We work together. We go to Bible studies together. It's something that keeps us together.

``In fact, we do all things together, side by side. People say, `You see one, you see the other.'''

Added Liz: ``We `honeymoon' every time we get a chance.''

It was ``Temo'' and Rita Torres who have found hope in every challenge.

He was from Mexico, she from Los Angeles. He spoke Spanish, she spoke English. They were neighbors in East L.A. when she finally managed to catch his eye. They cha-cha'd at the Palladium. Four months later, they were hitched.

Rita, the quiet type, prefers silence and a houseful of Indian dolls. Temo, a gregarious retiree from General Motors in Van Nuys, likes loud music and computers.

Together, they survived the teen years of two children. Both are now active in the Las Palmas Senior Club of San Fernando and are frequently seen holding hands, on the street, on the dance floor, at the movies.

``We still go dancing once a month,'' Rita said. ``Actually, we do everything together - we go to exercise together. Trips together. Dancing. The market.

``Sometimes I tell him, I'm gonna forget how to drive.''

Now married 43 years, they vow to celebrate their golden anniversary on the island of Kauai - to make up for their disastrous wedding.

What could go wrong went wrong: a dead car for bride and groom. Red menudo on the best man's whites. Holes in the groom's shoes. A ruined cake. The wedding march played as a Mexican polka. And a father who locked himself in the reception's beer closet.

From that night on, each newlywed vowed never go to bed angry.

``I never go to bed without giving her a kiss,'' said Temo Torres, 65. ``I'm more accustomed to kissing her all the time, and now I've got her trained.

``She's the love of my life - my No. 1. I respect her because, not only is she a hard worker, but she keeps me happy, she's always lifting me up ... She always says, 'Don't worry about it, it'll work out.'''

Dana Bartholomew, [phone]

dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) - Paul Moran,

married to wife Liz for 46 years

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer

(2 -- color) David and Sylvia Kaye of Northridge met 71 years ago and have been husband and wife for nearly 66 years. ``There was a feeling all my life that there was no one better than her,'' said David, who spotted Sylvia on a street as a teenager.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

(3 -- color) Cuauhtemoc and Rita Torres of Mission Hills, married for 43 years, still go out dancing once a month.

Joel P. Lugavere/Special to the Daily News