Almost every long marriage has an interesting story behind it.
Three local couples who have all been married for more than 50 years all have different stories but have successful marriages in common.
All three couples reside at The Oaks Assisted Living facility in Texarkana, Texas, and enjoy visiting in the facility's library or playing games together.
Don and Lily Preston
Don and Lily Preston have been married for 72 years.
They met in Germany when Don was stationed there during World War 11. He was in the Army Signal Corps. Lily was a native of Germany and was working in Frankfurt as a telephone operator.
Don's advice for a long and happy marriage?
"She has to be a special person."
He knew pretty early on that Lily was a special woman.
A mutual friend set them up on a phone call.
"He set it up. He said I had a call on line one. The first thing she said was, 'What do you want?'
"And for the next 72 years we've hung together," Don said. "I bought her a Coke and we've been together ever since."
They went to the movies a lot when they were first together.
"There were lots of English movies shown in Frankfurt after the war," Don said.
When he returned to the United States, Lily returned with him as a war bride.
"We married in Germany and came back on a ship with a few hundred other brides and grooms," he said.
Lily had to learn English and she had to leave her family behind, so it was hard for her at first.
"It was not always easy," she said.
They raised five girls together. Lily worked at Montgomery Ward and later as an EKG technician at Southern Clinic.
One of their daughters, Donna, styles hair at The Oaks.
She enjoys the company of the residents.
"There is a lot of history in this room," she said.
Jerry and Jo Hatfield
Jerry and Jo Hatfield have been married for 64 years.
"We met 69 years ago this week," Jerry said recently.
They both went to school in Jefferson, Texas, and a friend set them up for a date at the movies.
"The movie was 'Winchester 73,' but I didn't see the whole movie," Jerry said.
He was older than Jo and about to go into the Air Force after graduation.
"When I went into the service, we promised her mother we would not get married until she was 18. She turned 18 on Jan. 1 and we married that same day. She was a senior in high school and graduated that spring as a married woman," Jerry said.
He served in Korea and jokes that between him and his friends at The Oaks, "We have tried to cover all the wars."
He later worked at Red River Army Depot and went to college at night. He earned a business degree in 1975. Jo had her own pottery studio.
Marcus and Bobbie Middleton
A more recent couple at The Oaks are Marcus and Bobbie Middleton.
They have been married 54 years and recently moved to Texarkana from Shreveport, Louisiana.
Marcus was in the Army between 1959 and 1961. They met when Bobbie roomed with his sister while teaching school.
They wrote letters while he worked in the oil fields of Kuwait.
"I don't know if it was romantic or not. Just day-to-day stuff," she said.
Bobbie's advice for a long marriage?
"You have to overlook the little stuff and some of the big stuff," she said.