Via FNC:
George and Barbara Bush celebrate 70th wedding anniversary
Former President George H.W. Bush and first lady Barbara Bush are marking a milestone in their love story this Tuesday, celebrating 70 years of marriage.
The longest-wed presidential couple set the record in 2000 when they surpassed John and Abigail Adam’s 54-year union.
Their story began when they met at a Christmas dance at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., when the future president was 16 years old. A year and a half later, the couple was engaged, right before President Bush shipped out overseas to fight in World War II as a naval pilot.
A few years later, in Sept. 1944, Bush was sent home after he was shot down and nearly killed during a mission over the Pacific. A few months later, Bush and then Barbara Pierce were married in Rye, N.Y. on Jan. 6, 1945. The future president was 20 and Barbara was 19. They would have six children–one of whom died as a toddler–, including future President George W. Bush.
“I married the first man I ever kissed,” Barbara once said. “When I tell my children that they just about throw up.”
[…]
Beautiful.
I can’t help but think that this is how we ought to be now.
Read the rest there.
This is such an admirable family, so dedicated to public service.
Ad multos annos.
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I’m currently reading George W. Bush’ biography of George H. W. Bush. It’s a nice read about a good man and a good family. I would recommend it to all.
70 years of marriage. A remarkable example.
A pilot, and a naval pilot at that.
And six children!
Dedicated to public service….Including stealing the head of Geronimo?
:)
I so love real love stories. Love endures. I was told my an old man who’s wife recently died at the age of 82, that he never looked at another woman. God bless those who are faithful. Of course that’s the way it ought to be, even now.
May God continue to bless their marriage, and may their love for one another be an inspiration to those who think such fidelity can’t happen.
Thank you for your service, Mr and Mrs. G.H.W. Bush. And thanks for G.W. as well.
There is something so wonderful about a couple who are faithful to each other for all of those years that they’re married. I had a cousin who was married to her husband for 63 years. He was a see bee in the Pacific during World War II and saw action on many of the islands that the Japanese had taken. One of them was Okinawa. Jack was a happy go lucky kind of guy. He could build anything, was an amateur painter who took an easel and paints with him wherever he went. He met my cousin at a USO canteen in Philadelphia, where she was helping out serving food and dancing with the soldiers who stopped in. They corresponded and after the War they were married. They had four children and what I remember is how they would put on music and get up and dance in their living room in front of their kids – people used to do things like that back then – they were so happy in each other’s company. They frequently took their children camping and made sure they visited each of the 50 States over the years. In retirement, they took to gardening together. Even though Peggy was my dad’s age, she never forgot me and every month or so would call me just to see how things were. I would point them out to my own children and say, “See, it is possible to have a happy marriage – such things do exist”. It was like seeing a fairy tale come true watching those two. It’s hard to overestimate the powerful witness such a couple have in this unfaithful world we live in because they are a contradiction to the “wordily wisdom” that such faithfulness is impossible.
Always happy to see a great example of marriage. My own parents celebrated their 64th anniversary in October. My two brothers have each been married 37 years and my husband and I 27. Marriage is hard work. But it is always worth it.
Love this news item. My husband and I are about to celebrate our 50th in a couple of months. (A handsome young Navy pilot too!) It can only be done if God is the third party in the marriage. He is the one who carries us through the rough times and we ALL have those times. Mother Mary is part of it also. I will always remember kneeling before her statue to give her a bouquet of flowers after the Mass. Thank you for my awesome Catholic faith, Dear Lord!