After 80 Years of Marriage, Couple Shares the Advice Every Bride and Groom Should Hear

After 80 years of marriage, couple shares the advice every bride and groom should hear. And considering Eileen and Gordon Bitely have loved each other through eight decades, five sons, changing seasons, work, retirement, and probably more than a few disagreements over absolutely nothing, we might want to pull up a chair and listen.

Their Love Story Began With Letters During World War II

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Eileen, 96, and Gordon, 101, celebrated their 80th wedding anniversary on Aug. 25. Their love story began during World War II, when Gordon went away to serve, and Eileen wrote him a letter every single day. Every. Single. Day.

Long before text messages, heart emojis, and “Did you get my message?” There was Eileen, putting pen to paper and sending her heart across the miles. And those letters eventually became wedding vows.

After 80 Years, They Know What Makes Marriage Last

On Aug. 25, 1946, Eileen and Gordon were married at a home Eileen’s father built in Onekama, Michigan. Eighty years later, they are still side by side. When asked what makes a marriage last, Gordon described it as two lives being woven together.

“There’s a lot of weaving-together in a marriage,” Gordon said.

And he is right. Two people walk into marriage carrying different families, traditions, habits, and ideas about everything from money to which direction the toilet paper should hang. Somehow, with God’s grace, you learn to make one life out of two.

Marriage Takes 100 Percent From Both People

Eileen also offered a piece of wisdom every bride and groom should hear. “And don’t let anybody tell you that marriage is a 50-50 thing,” she said. “It is 100 percent, both ways.”

The couple also credits honesty, communication, and something we sometimes forget when life gets heavy: having fun together.

Their Most Important Marriage Advice Starts With Christ

But if you really want the nitty-gritty of how a marriage makes it to 80 years, Eileen and Gordon wrote it down.

At the top of their note is the foundation beneath everything else: “Christ should be first in your life.”

They encourage couples to spend time in the Bible daily, refuse to hold grudges, and never go to sleep without forgiving each other.

Then they get to finances, where their advice becomes wonderfully specific: “Don’t have separate bank accounts = trouble.”

Lasting Love Is Built in Thousands of Ordinary Moments

Eighty years of marriage earns you the right to skip the lengthy explanation and simply add an equals sign. Their final bits of wisdom include “Never put the cart before the horse” and “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”

Which feels especially fitting because these days Gordon builds birdhouses and Eileen paints them. Maybe after 80 years, you earn the right to become one of your own proverbs.

They still camp together and love spending time with the family they created. And of course, on Sundays, they go to church together.

There is something deeply sweet about that. Eighty years of marriage was built in the grand moments, yes, but mostly in ordinary ones. In letters and babies, paychecks and forgiveness, and in laughter and disagreements. But what I love best is Bible reading and Sunday morning routines. It was built by two people who kept turning toward God and toward each other.

That is the kind of love worth aspiring to.

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What began with wartime letters became a marriage, a home, a family, and a legacy spanning generations. Eighty years later, Eileen and Gordon are still showing us that lasting love is less about finding the perfect person and more about faithfully choosing the person beside you, again and again, with a whole lot of Jesus at the center.

Perhaps that is one of God’s sweetest designs for marriage. He takes two separate lives and, over thousands of ordinary days, patiently weaves them together until they have created something neither could have made alone.

“Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Mark 10:9

WATCH: After 80 Years of Marriage, Couple Shares the Advice Every Bride and Groom Should Hear 

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h/t: People

Featured Image Credit: YouTube/WOOD TV8

Heather Riggleman is a believer, wife, mom, author, social media consultant, and full-time writer. She lives in Minden, Nebraska with her kids, high school sweetheart, and three cats who are her entourage around the homestead. She is a former award-winning journalist with over 2,000 articles published. She is full of grace and grit, raw honesty, and truly believes tacos can solve just about any situation. You can find her on GodUpdates, iBelieve, Crosswalk, Hello Darling, Focus On The Family, and in Brio Magazine. Connect with her at www.HeatherRiggleman.com or on Facebook.