“You are so amazing”, said an elderly gentleman who was sitting across the table from his wife of 42 years. After hearing this, a bright red hue instantly covered her face just like it had for all of those 42 years when the man talked about her. The two were one of those rare couples that were thought to be invented by romantic movies and jewelry ads but this was no film set. The two had met years ago and both instantly knew they had to be with each other and through the time their love for each other had never wavered.

It was a Friday night in a small town when their paths first crossed. He was out cruising the main drag in his ‘49 Mercury with the guys and she was out with her fellow dolls at the local burger joint. He was a simple mechanic who worked at a shop in town that did your normal repairs but when normal shop hours were over the shop was filled with the work of young men creating hot-rods that were the talk of the town.

She worked as a secretary in a local insurance agency but yearned for a bigger life in the city. She was very bright and handled most of the work in the agency but it was a time when women weren’t accepted as Agents in charge of the whole agency. The weekends were her chance to get out with her friends to speak freely about her thoughts and opinions without receiving disapprove of her boss or parents. This would have been intimidating or a draw-back for most men but not him; this would end up being one of his favorite things about her even with she was using this wit against him.

While his Merc creeped into the parking lot, a sea of eyes began to wash against the Mercury’s smooth body including the eyes of the group she was sitting with. They all waited in anticipation, wondering who might step out of the elegant coupe crossing the lot. As the coupe edged into a parking spot the crowd seemed to inch in a little closer, all leaned in.

A simple clean cut man stepped out of the iron sled which shocked the crowd as they were figuring that some rebel hellion would step out. Since the crowd got their answer they all started turning back to their small groups or dates for the evening except for one set of eyes. The man panned across the crowd to see who was out there and he managed to catch the pair of attractive eyes that had been watching him.

These would be the same eyes he would look into through nearly a half century of good times and bad but they always had a warmth and loving feel in them. This would be the first night he would feel that warmth and love as this was just the beginning of their story.