So Sweet! Couple Of 73 Years Shares Their Wisdom On Making It Last

August 28th, 2012 - By Brande Victorian

Source: Black Love Forum

At 16 and 18 years old, Arthur & Ruby Lawrence wed in Wake Forest, NC. Four years later, they migrated up north to Rhode Island, and in 1945 they settled into the home where they would go on to raise nine children together, start a church, and where they still currently reside in wedded bliss 73 years after saying “I Do.” In 2010, Barack and Michelle Obama wrote a letter to the couple congratulating them on their 70th wedding anniversary, and recently Delisha Easley of Black Love Forum picked Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence’s brain for their thoughts on choosing a mate, making their marriage last, and advice for newlyweds. Here’s a bit of what they had to say:

Source: Black Love Forum

Q: What are some tips you would give on preparing yourself as an individual for marriage?

Arthur: Observe other marriages to learn what to do or not to do. You on your own once your married.

Ruby: Make sure you are friends first that’s the only way the marriage can last. Have only one boyfriend/girlfriend.

Q: How did you know he/she was the one?

Arthur: Jokingly states, I don’t know it was just something I wanted to do. She was just the first one. Seriously it just felt right at the time and was something good.

Ruby: Well the reason I made this decision was because I had made a mistake, I was pregnant before I got married and I felt I could just go on with it. I had no choice (she laughed). I knew he was the one because he was my type. He was just for me!

Q: How important is friendship to your relationship?

Ruby: Friendship is the foundation of our relationship. We went to school together for years.

Q: What is the #1 reason you believe your marriage has survived for 73 years?

Ruby: Mainly because of forgiveness. I had nine children and I lost one but I tried to stick around to survive for my family no matter what happened.

 

Source: Black Love Forum

Check out more of the Lawrence’s interview and their advice for newlywed couples on the Black Love Forum.

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  • applesauce585

    True “black love” such a beautiful thing….warms my heart with smile! 73 years, continued blessings to them both! How sweet :)

  • La-Di-Da

    This is awesome! 73 years…some people can’t even last 73 days!

  • http://www.facebook.com/jason.f.vorhees Jason Fangz Vorhees

    This is absolutely great. But one thing that makes me uncomfortable is when i hear people say “i could never get married we’ll work through it.”. I think there are too many circumstances that counseling and/or faith cannot fix. If a man is beating you, constantly cheating on you, abusive to children, alcohol/drug issues that will not go away etc. Also to me in the end life is too short to remain unhappy because of “vows”. How many of our loved ones have gone to the grave unhappy with how their life/marriage went just to keep vows. Is that living?

  • Victoria

    OMG that brought tears to my eyes deadass!!! I would never get married but I think this is trully beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good Luck to them!

  • Islandman

    Wonderful article well written and thanks for profiling such a beautiful couple.”thumbs up”..
    Side Note: The majority of couples I either hear about or read about with lenghty marriages usually are black couples go figure…

  • Nehemiah53

    Thank you Madame Noire for profiling this successful couple, note I said “sucessful couple” this is the first time I have read a post on marriage on a black blog that didn’t mention the couple job, career, brag about the women [wife] independence or how good he/she is or had to be in bed!

  • Candacey Doris

    73 years. God willing i can meet a man i’ll stick with all my life. They are indeed an inspiration.

  • FromUR2UB

    When couples have been married a long time, such as this, I really don’t want to hear the statements such as, “I knew he was the one the first time I laid eyes on him”. I don’t find that very helpful because that just amounts to a strong attraction. What I want to know are their processes for working through the times they had to forgive one another, especially if they had to do it repeatedly, and for the same offenses. I’d also like to know what were those little things they did on a day to day or week to week basis that kept the relationship fed, and reminded each other that they were loved.

  • Cha Cha

    That’s soooo awesome. My great grandparents were married until they both passed… 60 or 70 years married… and my grandparents just celebrated their 50 something anniversary…(I can’t keep up) It’s truly a blessing, especially in these days when people are married for 72 days or less… *ahem*

  • Patricia

    I am sure she has forgiven him a lot. You have to have the right person and the two individual has the same mind set to make the marriage work it can work. As long as the husband and the wife respect each other, no one is perfect. People make mistakes. Not talking about extra marital affairs. ( only if the person is really honest and sincere about making it work and have their minds made of not cheating again. To me I don’t this an affair is a mistake) It is all in you head and a choice you make. Sadly, now days you have so many people getting married for all the wrong reasons. And you have people getting divorces at 20, 30, 40, 50 years of marriage. To me, this is absolutely crazy. People don’t want to stay married anymore. It is sad that some people don’t want to resolve the conflict. It seems like one disagreement and they are headed to Divorce Court. That means to me somebody is not doing what they suppose to be doing. I love to see couples like this, even though they have been through tough times, yet they had their minds made up that they would work it out. People fail to realize that marriage is not a rose garden, a fantasy, or story book. Marriage is work. It takes two people to really work at keeping a marriage together.

    • Black Love Forum

      We agree @1a1f3cd67d8f3142bfdf818f8e65f205:disqus that is one of the main goals on our site. Show people what REAL marriage is about.

      • Nehemiah53

        Keep up the good work, for the first time we black people have a blog that
        bring us positive and uplifting article about black people.

  • Nehemiah53

    Wow powerful, wonderful, great, must read and full of wisdom. This need to
    be published on the front page of all black papers, magazines, and blogs. Note my parents was married for 52 years until my
    mother died, I remember the moment my mother died my father cried like a baby,
    like he had lose his best friend the love of his life!

    • Faith

      I agree. More of us need to see and hear about such a powerful love story.

      • Nehemiah53

        You right! We need this.

  • gracie

    Awww, so sweet!

  • poetdiva

    Just beautiful!

  • CocoaBabe

    wow. she must have forgiven ALOT to get to 73 years married to one man. I like that. Don’t get married if you not going to stick with it. Different times but certainly some of the same sh!t…gotta forgive and move on. cheers to Mr. Aurthur and Miss Ruby!!

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Delisha-AbstinenceExpert-Easley/507398244 Delisha AbstinenceExpert Easle

      Yea I thought the SAME thing LOL! Mrs. Ruby was actually laughing right after she told me that. This is a very lively couple;-)