This Woman Shares the Secret to Staying Married for 82 Years

For years, people have been trying to pin down the secret to a successful marriage. Is it never going to bed angry? Date nights? Compromise? Something else entirely?

As it turns out, the answer isn’t all that complicated—just ask 100-year-old Willie Williams!

The North Carolina resident has been married to husband D.W. Williams for 82 years. Lucky for us, she clued everyone in on just what it takes to make it last.

While celebrating her joint birthday with her spouse, who just turned 103, at the First Mayfield Memorial Baptist Church in Charlotte, the centenarian revealed that her longevity with D.W. is as simple as kindness.

“Just be nice to each other!” she told local reporters at the bash.

“We have never been the type [to] fuss and fight,” she said. “We just find funny things to talk about!”

The pair’s granddaughter, BJ Williams-Greene, who threw the party for the couple, also had some insight as to how they’ve made it this far together. “It’s communication, and loving each other and working together,” she said. “They are each other’s best [friends].”

The duo has lived through everything from the (Great) Depression to the civil rights movement. Miraculously enough, however, they still remember meeting each other in Newberry, South Carolina, in 1937.

“She was good-looking!” D.W. told WCNC. “I felt the same,” Willie admitted. “He, at 30, was handsome!”

Things have gotten a bit more tame in their golden years: Willie said if they had another 100 years to live, they’d wind up sitting “around the house.”

Hey, when you’ve got your soul mate by your side, what more do you really need?