This post was originally published on February 12, 2012. You can view the first publishing here. Happy Valentines Day!

I’ll never forget how his face lit up and he smiled when I asked him how they met. As he began to tell the story I realized he was talking faster than I could write. He was talking about something very dear to him. Something that still caused a twinkle in his eye and brought a smile to his face. As Walter told me about they day he met his wife Rose I knew this was a special story to him.

At their first glimpse they both were attracted. “I thought he was kind of cute,” Rose said, “Now I would say handsome or nice looking.”

When I asked Walter what his first thoughts were when he saw Rose he said, “Oh wow!”

They met on the Rice Lake Public Library steps when Rose was a sophomore in High School and Walter was 20 years old. “I was too young to go with him then,” she said. “The lady I was staying with wanted me to go with High School Students. We dropped it until I was 18. That’s a pretty good age.”

Walter was with a friend and he asked his friend to introduce them. His friend ran down the sidewalk and told her that Walter wanted to get acquainted with her. They met, learned each other’s names and got acquainted. When Walter was 23 and Rose was 19 they got married, Walter said. Walter and Rose have been married 71 years. Last year at about this time I stopped by and asked them some questions about what they had learned in there years of marriage and about their love story.

“I have known Walter and Rose all my life,” Kim, a friend of the couple said, “For many years I thought we were related, and disappointed to realize we were not. They have always managed to keep their admiration for each other. It was always evident with the smiles shared between the two of them. They would say the secret for them is that never once did they go to bed angry with one another…wow, how many of us have such bragging rights? Their love of God is also clearly evident on each of their faces. GREAT EXAMPLES for us all!”

“When you’re married 70 years there’s a lot of changes,” Rose told me. I asked her how they got through the changes and hard times they had faced. “We did a lot of praying,” she answered.

“It pays to trust the Lord,” Walter said.

“One experience (of God answering prayer) will help you have faith for the next one,” Rose added.

Walter added, “It means a lot if you both agree in one accord that your going to live for the Lord and go to church together. That’s the main thing that’s kept us together.”

What couple inspires you? How has their example impacted your life? Comment below.