The "Could That Be Us One Day?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Looking at a photograph of a couple sitting on their sofa in their home.  Couple looked like any other couple except for the fact that they had been married for 80 years!  Yep!  You read that right.  80 years!!  Looking at their photograph in the paper you would never have guessed they were 102 years old!  You read that right.  102 years old!  How can that be?  Well...it be, so it is!  The Manheim Township couple are both 102 years old and have endured 80 years of marriage.  They were married December 26, 1942.  I wasn't even born, nor was my wife, in 1942.  Their marriage is one of the longest in the history of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  The Guiness World Record for longest marriage is 86 years.  I looked at my dear wife and told her we have a long ways to go to catch up with them!  Robert and  Edith Mae Schaum have enjoyed a lifetime together and today live in a second-floor condominium and Robert drives to church and the grocery store and the Masonic Lodge.  They met as 10th grade classmates in the town of Donora which is about 20 miles south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Edith reported that the first time she set her eyes on Robert, she knew she was going to marry him!  Now, that's a bit scary for me!  If you are married...can you remember the first time you met your spouse?  Can you remember being in 10th grade?  I guess if you are a young whipper-snapper you may remember when and where you met the love of your life, but being 102 and remembering that?  Well, they dated throughout high school and when Robert graduated from college in 1942...he proposed to Edith.  In 1943 he entered the Navy and he and his wife corresponded through letters written throughout WWII.  Even though he was in the Navy, he found time to visit with his wife.  In 1944 his wife had a baby boy.  Edith did get the chance to fly to San Diego so Robert could see their new born baby boy.  After the war they raised a family in Lancaster with daughter Paula arriving in 1949.  In 1981 they moved to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  They lost their son in 2018, but their marriage remains intact.  Their secret?  "We have each other!" Edith Mae said.  They had set a goal of becoming 100 years old together and now that they have accomplished that, their goal is 110 years old.  Their secret is having each other!  Does anyone doubt that they will make it for another 10 years.  Congratulations from my wife Carol and myself!  We too are hoping that we will  be able to reach some of the records that Robert and Edith Mae have reached during their life together.  When we do...you will be the first to know through my blog!    It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.