Valentine's Day

Loves of Their Lives: 3 Couples on Being Married for Over 50 Years

All three couples were among the many recognized by Boston's Age Strong Commission this December at its annual celebration of couples married for at least five decades.

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Massachusetts couples Thelma and Edward Burns, Willy and Dotty Ostiguy and Beverly and Milton Roye tell their love stories for Valentine’s Day.

Sometimes love at first sight lasts. And lasts and lasts and lasts.

These three couples from the Boston area fell in love at first sight, got married young and stayed married for more than 50 years. Now in their golden years, they're still going strong.

Ahead of Valentine's Day, they told us their love stories and the secrets to a happy marriage. One tip: using humor to keep the other person happy.

"Honey, I saw him and he had no place to go but here," Beverly Roye said, with a hearty laugh, of the first time she saw her husband, Milton Roye.

All three couples were among the many recognized by Boston's Age Strong Commission this December at its annual celebration of couples married for at least five decades.

The commission, which offers services to Bostonians who are 55 and over, planned to send 7,000 Valentine's Day cards to homebound seniors by Friday.

Love at First Sight Led This Dorchester Couple to 66 Years Together
Beverly and Milton Roye of Dorchester on the keys to a successful life together.

We just sort of grew up together.

Milton Roye
Married as Teens, Together for Decades: Quincy Couple's 54-Year Love Story
Quincy, Mass., residents Willy and Dotty Ostiguy on what makes their marriage successful.

He's just a tower for me.

Dotty Ostiguy
Surviving Together: Dorchester Couple on 64 Happy Years of Marriage
Dorchester couple Thelma and Howard Burns tell their love story.

It's not like the kids today 'cause something goes wrong, they split up and go out ... hang in there!

Thelma Burns
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