Couples married for 20- to 50-plus years say they keep the spark in their romance through communication, humor and patience.
Marj and Bob Overstreet of Burbank were married Sept. 6, 1958, and are John Burroughs grads — he in 1955, she in 1957.
They met on a double date.
“His good sense of humor is what first attracted me to him,” Marj Overstreet said. “He seemed to know what he wanted in life.”
Parents of three grown boys, the Overstreets say they have kept their marriage romantic by making private time a priority.
“We say sexy things to each other, and we have a house in Lake Havasu, so we like to get together for private time,” she said.
“I think it’s a 50-50 deal,” he said.
The couple said they have the same interests — gardening, dirt bike riding, water sports and antiquing — and they talk about what would please the other one. They don’t go to bed mad, and if they have a flair up, they resolve it, Marj Overstreet said.
Her husband is good at surprising her with loving things.
One day, he came in and presented her with a gift from the garden, saying “Would you accept this rose?”
They had seen the bachelor do it on the TV show, she said.
“It was really sweet,” she said. “He was very genuine.”
While sweet sayings are important to the Overstreets, sarcasm is preferred in the Murray home.
Burbank residents Lisa and Craig Murray celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary Feb. 6.
“We always go away for our wedding anniversary and always go out for our first date anniversary on Dec. 23, and we haven’t missed it in 24 years,” Lisa Murray said.
They met on a blind date in Michigan, Craig Murray said.
What impressed him about her was her impersonations of male actors, he said.
“We went out and hit it off,” he said. “She launched into Robert De Niro and won my heart.”
And if tensions arise? They laugh it off.
“We laugh all the time — mainly at each other,” she said. “I know it’s weird, but we really don’t fight. But I think the thing that is important is our priorities, which are our family and each other. We always vacation with our children, even though they are older and it’s getting harder to do. We have three girls, and we have a lot of fun with them.”
