Photo: via The Betar Family/WFSB
The most life-affirming story of the week comes courtesy of John and Ann Betar, the longest married American couple. They celebrated their 81st anniversary this week, to the media's delight. Eighty-one years! That brings us back four generations to 1932. The Great Depression was raging; World War II had yet to start. Amidst this turmoil, the Betars fell in love, and eloped from their small Syrian community in Connecticut to New York City (to escape Ann having to marry a man 20 years her senior). They had a daughter a year later (she's now 80), sadly lost two other children to cancer, and have 14 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren to keep them busy.
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What is the Betars' advice to young(er) lovers across the nation?
"Be content with what you have and what you're doing," John Betar, age 102, said in a WFSB interview, below.
"We learned to understand each other's ways of life. The agreements, the disagreements," says Ann. (She's 98.)
And John's final words of wisdom? "We always hold hands." Aw! Watch and learn what true love really means below. (Gawker)