Still in Love after 77 Valentine's Days

摘要：Fred Landis has a Valentine's Day ritual. Sometime, somewhere, he'll lean over to his wife, Gwen, and say, "I love you." They say he's been doing that on Valentine's Days since 1928, when they were married.佛瑞德·兰迪斯在情人节这天有一个不变的仪式，就是在某时某地，他会靠近自己的妻子温格，对她说"我爱你"。1928年结婚以后，每年的情人节他们都会这样做。

Fred Landis has a Valentine's Day ritual. Sometime, somewhere, he'll lean over to his wife, Gwen, and say, "I love you." They say he's been doing that on Valentine's Days since 1928, when they were married.

In October, Fred, 102, and Gwen, 101, celebrated their 77th wedding anniversary, and they are not far shy of a record. The longest current marriage, according to the 2006 edition of Guinness World Records, is 78 years, 296 days.

On Valentine's Day 2006, Fred will say "I love you" a bit louder than he used to because Gwen is hard of hearing. Fred has macular degeneration, which has kept him from writing poetry for her.

Gwen says Fred wrote poems to her during their courtship , a gesture that may have won her heart.

"I think that had something to do with it," she said with a shy smile.

They met in 1924 as college students, he at Albany College and she at Simpson Bible College in Seattle. Fred attended a church where Gwen's father was the pastor. When they were married, Gwen's father performed the ceremony.

Gwen remembers receiving $800 for a wedding gift, then losing it all in the stock-market crash the following year.

The Landises spent the next four decades working in ministry and raising four children. Fred was the pastor at several small churches in the Northwest. Gwen played the piano and organ and taught Sunday school .

He retired in 1970, and they have lived in Salem since then. They moved to a retirement center in 1994.

"They're just wonderful people. You couldn't find any better," says a friend, Dorothea McAuley. "They're setting an example for everybody. They're always happy. I've never seen one of them angry. They're God's example."

Commitment is the word Gwen uses to describe their marriage success. Fred agrees.

"Sure, we've had squabbles and disagreements galore ," he said. "But there's a commitment to marriage because we have a reverence to it."

They have eight grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.

Son John, 67, says he continues to be amazed by his parents, their relationship and their lives.

"I think - I know - they would not have lived this long singly," John says. "They keep each other going."

佛瑞德·兰迪斯在情人节这天有一个不变的仪式，就是在某时某地，他会靠近自己的妻子温格，对她说"我爱你"。1928年结婚以后，每年的情人节他们都会这样做。

去年10月，102岁的佛瑞德和101岁的温格庆祝了他们结婚77年纪念日，未来有可能打破结婚时间最长的世界纪录。据2006年《吉尼斯世界纪录》记载，现在世界上最长的婚姻纪录是78年零296天。

2006年的 情人节，因为格温的听力不佳，佛瑞德说"我爱你"的时候声音要大一点了。 佛瑞德身体有点不太好，不能再给温格写诗了。

格温说佛瑞德追求她的时候，经常给她写诗，这样赢得了她的芳心。

她害羞地笑着说："佛瑞德写诗给我，我才会爱上他。"

1924年的时候，佛瑞德和温格分别就读于西雅图的奥尔巴尼学院和辛普森圣经学院。他们是在温格的父亲当牧师的教堂相识的。后来，温格的父亲主持了他们的婚礼。

温格还记得，她结婚时收到的礼物是800美元，但在第二年的股市风暴后没剩下一分钱。

佛瑞德婚后40年一直从事神职工作，夫妻俩养育了4个孩子。他在美国西北部的一些小教堂里当牧师，格温弹钢琴和管风琴，在主日学校里当老师。

1970年佛瑞德退休了，打那以后他们一直居住在塞勒姆市。1994年，夫妻俩搬进了退休中心。他们的一个朋友多萝西娅·麦考利说："他们是非常好的人，你再也找不到比他们更好的人了。他们给每个人都树立了榜样，他们总是很开心，谁都没生过气，是上帝的榜样。"

温格认为他们婚姻的成功是因为"承诺"，佛瑞德也有同感。

他说："当然，我们也有过许多次争吵，意见不一致，但是我们都信仰婚姻的承诺。"

他们现在有8个孙子女，19个曾孙子女。

他们67岁的孩子约翰说，他始终对他的父母、他们之间的关系和他们的生活感到惊奇。

约翰说："我认为，我也知道，没了另一半他们谁也无法生活到现在，他们彼此让对方活下去。"