Couple shares the secret to lasting marriage on their 80th wedding anniversary

BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. (WBAL) - A couple in Baltimore County will celebrate their 80th anniversary on Saturday.

Willie and Geraldine Chambers got married 80 years ago in 1943. Willie is now 99 and Geraldine is 98.

However, it’s been nearly a century since they met.

“I’ve known her ever since she was around 4 years old,” Willie Chambers said of his wife.

“I just didn’t pay him any attention,” Geraldine Chambers giggled.

In the late 1930s, church and school were the only places the two could snag a glimpse of each other. Willie Chambers remembers when he finally mustered up the courage to share his feelings, saying he even remembers it was on a Sunday.

In his wife, Willie Chambers said he has found what God intended for him to have.

The last eight decades of marriage was a choice they made every day, and although Willie Chambers said marriage hasn’t always been “cream and honey,” they couldn’t be happier.

“One thing I love about her – she’s bossy,” he said.

“I’m glad you said that,” Geraldine Chambers responded.

The secret to a lasting marriage?

“I don’t know, she grows on you,” Willie Chambers said. “The world is hers as far as I’m concerned.”

The couple has two daughters, six grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and eight great-great-grandchildren.

Doing life only makes sense with each other.

“I guess I love her ‘cause she’s Geraldine,” Willie Chambers said.