Love is always the key to a long-lasting marriage. And this pair has been in love for a very, very long time.
Their affection for one another has only increased since they first met as toddlers and got married as teenagers.
Growing up, Joel and Carolyn LaPray frequently played with their neighbors. Since their parents got along well, it was typical for them to set up playdates for their kids.
When they first got together, Carolyn was only 14 months old and Joel was only 23 months old. They grew close, and they even have a photo of themselves taken in 1941 or 1942, just before the war, as they remember.
Both families left West Idaho, where they had lived before World War II, to live elsewhere. They ran into each other again once it was over and both families settled back in Logan, Utah.
However, given that they preferred playing with children of the same sex this time around, Joel and Carolyn did not become friends like they had in the past.
During their high school sophomore year, they reconnected with one another. when Joel asked Carolyn to attend the military ball with him.
Joel recalls thinking, ’I kind of like her; I think I’m going to marry her eventually,’ at the time he learned he liked Carolyn.
Joel felt Carolyn found him dull, even though she liked him as well. Later, she acknowledged that this was accurate, but only because Joel hardly spoke to her the entire evening.
The two reconnected in their senior year of high school on a greater level. They started dating each other while they were in their final year of high school. They developed a love for one another.
They both attended Utah State University, and before the conclusion of their first year of college, they had already decided they would get married. They are also commemorating their 64th anniversary today!
When Joel’s mother learned of their engagement, she dug up a photo of the two of them as young children.
She asked a buddy to colorize the black and white image. They adored it so much that they used it to decorate their wedding cake.
‘Joel and Carolyn, their first date,’ was written beneath the image. When telling the tale, Carolyn felt proud and remarked, ‘That was special, too.’
Raising their six children together has been a fantastic experience for the couple. They have roughly 33 or 34 great-grandchildren and 25 grandchildren. Joel claimed that he had given up counting.
They claim that the key to a long and happy marriage is straightforward: ‘Compromise’ We made compromises because we all had diverse ideas and followed her lead.
Joel added, ‘If papa’s not happy, nobody cares,’ after Carolyn had agreed with her husband’s assertion and said, ‘If mama’s happy, everybody’s happy.’ They both nodded.