Alabama Couple Celebrate 80th Anniversary, Still in Love
When they married on October 2nd, 1927, he was 17, she was 14. Their families didn’t approve, so they had a friend drive them to the courthouse 50 miles away.
By Anastacia Mott Austin
Alonzo Sims says that he thought Beulah was "purty" the first day he laid eyes on her.
Eighty years later, they still hold hands and love spending time together. Living at a nursing home in Scottsdale, Alabama, the couple, Alonzo and Beulah Sims, now 97 and 94, parked their wheelchairs next to each other for an interview with The Huntsville Times.
"After all these years," said Sims to reporters, "I still enjoy being with her."
Agrees activities director Dorris Phillips at the Cloverdale Manor nursing home where the couple reside. "Eighty years, that’s just wonderful," said Phillips to reporters, adding that the two are still lovebirds. "He’ll just reach and get her hand and plant one on her. We just think it’s the sweetest thing that ever was."
Only three other couples hold records for longer marriages, according to the Guinness Book of Records.
The couple weathered the 1929 stock market disaster, the Great Depression, World War II, and all of the other landmark events marking the 20th century.
They lived in homes with no electricity for the first 22 years of their marriage, and moved often to find farm work. They didn’t have indoor plumbing until 1960.
The Sims raised a family of six children; three boys and three girls.
The couple say they have both managed to live so long because of hard work done on the farm, and eating lots of produce and little meat.
Sims retired in 1966, and the couple ran a few gas stations after that.
In 2002, they decided it was best to move to a nursing home, and they chose one that would accept them both. Cloverdale Manor nursing home helped the couple celebrate their successful marriage earlier this week.
These days, they enjoy visiting with friends at the nursing home, and playing bingo together.
When asked about the success of their long-lived union, Beulah told reporters, "We’ve been too busy to fight."
Her husband agreed. "No, we didn’t have no fights. She’s a pretty good ol’ gal."
Alonzo Sims says that he thought Beulah was "purty" the first day he laid eyes on her.
Eighty years later, they still hold hands and love spending time together. Living at a nursing home in Scottsdale, Alabama, the couple, Alonzo and Beulah Sims, now 97 and 94, parked their wheelchairs next to each other for an interview with The Huntsville Times.
"After all these years," said Sims to reporters, "I still enjoy being with her."
Agrees activities director Dorris Phillips at the Cloverdale Manor nursing home where the couple reside. "Eighty years, that’s just wonderful," said Phillips to reporters, adding that the two are still lovebirds. "He’ll just reach and get her hand and plant one on her. We just think it’s the sweetest thing that ever was."
Only three other couples hold records for longer marriages, according to the Guinness Book of Records.
The couple weathered the 1929 stock market disaster, the Great Depression, World War II, and all of the other landmark events marking the 20th century.
They lived in homes with no electricity for the first 22 years of their marriage, and moved often to find farm work. They didn’t have indoor plumbing until 1960.
The Sims raised a family of six children; three boys and three girls.
The couple say they have both managed to live so long because of hard work done on the farm, and eating lots of produce and little meat.
Sims retired in 1966, and the couple ran a few gas stations after that.
In 2002, they decided it was best to move to a nursing home, and they chose one that would accept them both. Cloverdale Manor nursing home helped the couple celebrate their successful marriage earlier this week.
These days, they enjoy visiting with friends at the nursing home, and playing bingo together.
When asked about the success of their long-lived union, Beulah told reporters, "We’ve been too busy to fight."
Her husband agreed. "No, we didn’t have no fights. She’s a pretty good ol’ gal."
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