Indio Couple Married 65 Years Shares Secret to Lasting Love

Broken hearts aren’t hard to come by these days. With about three out of four marriages ending in divorce in California, it’s hard to find a story of everlasting love.

We found one couple this Valentine’s Day, making love last, for more than six decades. Paul Gerhardt says, “One thing about 65 years of marriage….it ain’t easy!

Gerhard and his wife Dottie, both 85, met when they were just 20, in Massachusetts.

They first met at church, and it didn’t take Paul long to realize Dottie could be the woman of his dreams.

“She had a wonderful figure that I took notice of initially! And that’s probably what got things going,” he said.

But Dottie played it cool and didn’t say yes to a date, right away.

“I said no and he kept saying oh come on, and he kept asking and asking. Finally I said oh, alright. That was the beginning,” she said.

They dated for three years, before tying the knot on August 17, 1946.

Almost 66 years later, they’re expressing their love, with handwritten valentines.

They both agree love, although a beautiful thing, isn’t always easy and that there’s one key to staying together.

Paul says, “We’ve got a deep love for each other. But sometimes that’s not enough. You have to work at it.”

That’s something they’d like to remind today’s generation of young lovers.

Dottie says, “What I think is it’s too easy. If it doesn’t work, the heck with it, they get a divorce, and you have to work at it to make it work.”

A kiss now and then doesn’t hurt either.