I work for a hyper-local newspaper and there's a 94-year-old farmer (he no longer farms but still lives on his old farm) who is pretty well-known in the community. He and his wife got married on June 20, 1943, and their church is throwing them a big party this weekend. I interviewed the couple simultaneously for a feature story and oh my goodness, they are adorable!

When I asked them the key to a long, successful relationship, here's what they had to say:

- He said they never carried a scorecard. They never kept track of who did what and/or used the information against the other person;
- She said they made communication a top priority. If they had an argument, they made a point to settle it right then and there, and once it was over, they never brought it up again. She also used the cliché "We never went to bed angry";
- He said they always made it a point to enjoy each other, even while raising 4 kids. They'd leave the kids with his mother and take long drives, go out for leisurely lunches, and talk about each other.
- She said they struck the word "divorce" from their vocabulary the minute they got married. She said, "We never used the word, jokingly or otherwise. It was not an option. We were going to make this thing work."

They're all fairly obvious and often-stated things, but hey, here's one couple those things worked for!

At the very end of the conversation, he told me, "When I kissed her yesterday on the morning of our 70th anniversary, I felt the same love for her that I felt when I kissed her the first time." She laughed and then she turned to me and said "He's still my hero, you know."

OMG. I died of the cuteness.