'A wonderful, wonderful experience': Georgia couple celebrates 70 years of marriage
DACULA, Ga. - Valentine's Day is all about celebrating love and one Dacula couple knows a lot about that.
Wendell and Nancy Davis live in Arbor Terrace Hamilton Mill Senior Living Community in Dacula and have a very special love story.
They're celebrating 70 years of marriage, love, dedication, and happiness.
Inside an old suitcase at their home, you'll find letter after letter. Each one is a glimpse into the love story of Wendell and Nancy.
"This was in July in 1950. We had just started going stead, but he said 'My dearest Nancy…," Nancy Davis read.
The couple first met each other when they were only 11 and 13 years old.
"But we were just purely friends, never dreamt of us getting together," Nancy Davis said.
A few years later, when Wendell was playing Minor League Baseball, Nancy came to watch him play.
"The first game she saw she was sitting on the third baseline, I was playing third base, someone hit it down the baseline, and I was yelling, ‘I got it, I got it!’ And it popped right out of my glove. For an error, right in front of her," Wendell said.
He might not have caught the ball, but he certainly caught Nancy's eye.
"And I was going to spring training tomorrow in Springfield, Missouri. And I asked her to go steady, and she said ‘Well Springfield is a long ways away.’ And I said 'But I'll write every day.' And I did," he said.
Every day a new letter showed up in Nancy's mailbox.
"When I go with you I don't care if we have anything to eat or not, because I just like your company," Nancy read.
After a year of letters, Wendell proposed.
"He got down on one knee and surprised me with a diamond, and he asked me to marry him. And I kind of melted, but I said yes," Nancy said.
The two married on February 9, 1952, starting a partnership that spanned seven decades with four daughters, five grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.
'It's been wonderful. We put God first in our marriage. And always served God. But we fell in love, deeper, deeper in love. And it was a wonderful, wonderful experience. It still is. It just seems like yesterday," Wendell said.
"But it's a marriage, and you work at it. It had its rough ups and downs but we worked through them," Nancy said. "We never went to bed angry."
The two now spend every moment together - even more in love today than they were in those very first letters.
"Be a good companion to your spouse. And love every day and share don't keep secrets, share every day. That's been our success. That's been our trials and our success," Wendell said.
Wendell says he's just as dedicated as he was before.
In fact, when Nancy had two hip surgeries this year, he would ride the exercise bike 25 miles a week and do 100 crunches a day so he would be in good enough shape to take care of her.