102-year-old John Betar and 98-year-old Ann Betar have been married now for 81 years. Given that these days most marriages in the U.S. end in divorce, Mr. and Mrs. Betar are truly an inspiration. The couple, however, admit that “it isn’t a lovey dovey thing for 80 years.” John did however reveal the secret to their long-lasting marriage: “always agree with your wife.”

Today reported that John and Ann eloped on Nov 25, 1932, escaping their small Syrian neighborhood in Bridgeport, Connecticut because Ann’s father was planning to marry her off to a man twenty years older than her.  “I had no choice but to elope because my father was set on me marrying a much older man, and I was 17. John was not the boy next door, but the boy across the street who I loved,” Ann Betar revealed. “He was 21 and used to drive me to high school in his Ford Roadster,” she added.

“Everyone was hopping mad, and my wife’s aunt consoled my father-in-law by telling him not to worry, the marriage won’t last,” Added her husband.

Now, as they celebrate their incredible 81 years of marriage, they can look back on some of the things that have made them stick together for so long. And it seems it is the small things that matter, “We’re always holdings hands,” John says. “We’ll be together forever”

The couple was named on Valentine’s Day by Worldwide Marriage Encounter as 2013’s longest married couple in America. The couple live in Long Island.

(main image via YouTube)