ARGYLE, Texas — Let's talk about love and marriage.
More people are waiting until they're about 40 years old to get married, according to the National Center for Family and Marriage Research at Bowling Green University. Their research also showed divorce rates among young adults have dropped in the past five years, and one North Texas couple showed WFAA it's all about cherishing the good times.
In Argyle, Texas, the Stribling home is a collection of memories you can see on walls, shelves and their dining room table. Beth and Gilbert Stribling have been married for 69 years.
"That's a long time," Gilbert laughed.
The couple took us back to their wedding day in McLean, Texas.
"It was February 4, 1955 in a little church ... we were in college," Beth said.
Beth was 19. Gilbert was 23. He was an Air Force pilot who graduated from what's now called Texas A&M University.
"Back then, A&M was an all-military school and all-male, and we graduated as second lieutenants," Gilbert said.
The pair moved to air bases across the country, raising three children before returning home to Texas together.
As we go back in time, once more, Beth and Gilbert were both athletes – role models on the court. Beth advanced to the very first UIL-sanctioned women's state basketball championship. And if you ask them what keeps them in the game of marriage, it's the memories and love through thick and thin.
"You just have to grit your teeth and go through the bad with the good," Beth told WFAA.
"We are two very different people," Gilbert added. "She's highly-organized. I'm highly-disorganized. But, it had worked."
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