A couple are reaching the rare milestone of celebrating their 85th wedding anniversary.
Ralph and Dorothy Kohler, 102 and 100 respectively, got married when they were teenagers in Nebraska – they were so young that the first judge they found wouldn’t perform the ceremony.
Thankfully for the couple though, a second judge agreed to marry them – at the ages of 17 and 16 – and they’ve never looked back.
Credit: WOWT
As reported by WOWT-TV, Ralph said: “Everybody said it would never last. You don’t ever think you’d make it. We did. That’s the main thing.”
The couple attended Tekamah Court House to be married on 16 September 1935 – Dorothy’s mother was there too, but the judge refused to go ahead with the service.
The day after though, they were married, with both of their mothers present as witnesses.
According to US Census Bureau data, only six percent of couples in the country get to their 50th anniversary, so what’s the secret to such a long relationship?
Credit: WOWT
Ralph said the key to a long-lasting marriage is to resolve conflict, saying: “If we ever had a problem, I agreed to it. That’s the best way to get out of them.”
Can’t say fairer than that.
He also says that both their long lives and marriage are both down to healthy habits. Neither of them have ever drunk alcohol or smoked. Those years must have dragged by.
Dorothy said: “I cooked, and he liked to eat.”
Ralph added: “Love for one thing, and we enjoy the same thing. And if we didn’t, we accepted it.”
The pair also realised they liked each other’s passions. Dorothy started ballroom dancing and Ralph decided to give it a go, soon realising he loved it.
And then Dorothy took up clay pigeon shooting – and excelled. The incredible lady managed to become a trap shooting national champion in 1952.
As for the ballroom dancing, they won more than 300 awards together and became champions of the Las Vegas Gold Bar Competition.
Credit: WOWT
On their 60th anniversary, they renewed their vows in front of their loved ones, and in 2014 they made the move to California. The couple were in their 90s and decided they wanted to be closer to their youngest daughter, Kay Burden.
Kay is one of the couple’s three children, in fact – it’s also reported that their son Max, the eldest child, lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, while daughter Jeannie also resides in California.
Happy anniversary, guys!
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