An 80th wedding anniversary

Here's some good news for this day before Thanksgiving -- John and Ann Betar will celebrate their 80th wedding anniversary on Sunday.  John is 101 and his wife is 97 years old.  They shared their story and their advice with ABC News.  

I think one of the things I enjoy about these big anniversary stories is the way the reporters appear to ask the question, "What's your secret?"  There's a bit of shock that in such a divorce-heavy culture that two people would remain married for 60, 70, 80 years.  And I love that the response of the couples always seems to be one of great simplicity.  It's almost as if you can see the husband and wife shrugging their shoulders and saying, "I said I'd love my spouse and I do, and my spouse loves me."  

These couples don't have a formula or a secret ingredient to life-long love.  They have commitment.  They have faith.  They seem to have an understanding that they don't magically create marriage, but that they participate in it by accepting the call to marriage and living it fully, even during the inevitable hardships.

In any event, it's definitely worth a few moments to ponder the simple witness of John and Ann Betar

(Incidentally, their wedding anniversary is the feast day of the first married couple who were beatified together!  Their feast was also their wedding anniversary.  The Betars and the Quattrocchis would have actually been alive and celebrating their wedding anniversaries on the same day for nearly two decades.)