For Chicago couple Irv and Carlyn Ungar, Valentine's Day is more than just a lovey-dovey holiday. February 14 marks their wedding anniversary, and this year the pair celebrated the big 7-5.
But the decision to get married on Valentine's Day was more practical than romantic, Irv, 99, admitted in an interview with CBS.
"I thought, you know, I might have trouble remembering the date," he said. "But there will always be a Valentine's Day!"
It's a pragmatic decision that has saved the pair from any forgotten anniversary spats -- Carlyn, 98, says that in more than seven decades of marriage Irv has yet to forget the special day.
Irv and Carlyn have been together for 80 years, ever since they first met as sophomores at the University of Wisconsin, the Chicago Tribune reported. Carlyn went to a fraternity party at Irv's frat house without a date, and after some encouragement from his brothers, Irv asked her out. The two dated during college and continued going steady when Irv returned to his native Chicago for a job as an advertising copywriter; Carlyn went to Atlanta to train as a lab technician before working at a Staten Island hospital in New York.
Surprisingly another holiday played a big part in the Ungars' love story. In 1937 Irv visited Carlyn in New York during New Year's weekend; it was then that "we said, why don't we get married?" Carlyn told the Tribune. And February 14, 1938 they did.
The Ungars' long marriage has set quite the example: their son has been married for 50 years.
To hear the Ungar's take on how they've stayed married for so long, watch the video above.
Related
Before You Go
