Centenarian Couple Married for almost 80 Years

A 100-years old couple have been married for almost 80 years say that there’s no particular secret to their very long marriage, other than tolerance, respect and luck.

"We don’t know anyone else over 100. We are really oddities: two people married for 78 years, one 103, the other 100. We’ve outlived everybody. And it’s rare, I recognise that. We’re very lucky. The best I can wish you is our luck.”

Betty, 100-year old said "Just don’t let every complaint turn to anger. Tolerance and respect. And you’ve got to like them. Morrie would never use the word love; I do, but the actions are the same on either part.”

But why has Morrie never told Betty that he loves her?

Morrie, 103, explained: “To me, love is possessive; it’s controlling and demanding. The word that I would rather use instead is ‘caring’. You care about people. ‘Care’, to me, has a much deeper meaning. Love is an esoteric word, but one that people also use to mean all sorts of off-hand things. ‘I love playing tennis,’ and such. I hug Betty constantly, I kiss her constantly, I care very much about her.”

They met in New York City in 1938, at the wedding of Betty’s cousin, who happened to be the brother of one of Morrie’s friends. 

The couple shared that one of the weirdest things about growing old is seeing your children become senior citizens as well. Their daughter lives in the same block as them so if one of them were to die, the other would not be alone. 

“After 78 years, I can say I didn’t make a mistake. We’ve had our ups and downs, but we’re still here”, Morrie said with his hand on his wife’s knee.

True love really does exist. You just need an ounce of love, respect and understanding.

SOURCE: independentco