Valentine`s Anniversary | Video

Alan Miller | 2/14/2013

Valentine`s Day is obviously much more enjoyable when you have someone to share it with. Orval and Elaine Benson have been sweethearts much longer than most. It all started on February 14, seventy years ago.

They`re now in their nineties, and they`ve walked side by side while raising four children, followed by ten grandchildren and a growing number of great-grandchildren.

"I don`t know, it just don`t seem that long," Elaine said.

"Seems shorter than that," Orval said.

Apparently, time flies when you`re having fun. But that`s not how their lives together began. They got married in Seattle in 1943, while Orval was stationed in Fort Lewis, and he was about to head overseas during World War II. During their forced separation, he didn`t worry about her, but she sure worried about him.

"Her parents were around there, too. And that`s, for her, that was a big plus," he said.

"For me, it was because he went in the paratroops, joined the paratroops, and I didn`t like that," she said.

Orval wasn`t involved in any fighting in France but he parachuted out of a plane several times. And once, he broke his ankle. Elaine fought the war at home, working with sheet metal in a naval yard in California.

They don`t have any real secrets to seventy years of success, but they say they never really had any major disagreements.

"She`s always there. If I needed backup," he said.

"I make a good boss, don`t I?" she asked.

"Yeah."

And while Orval may not be much of a talker, he`s always been a gentleman.

The Bensons say they just wanted to get married before Orval headed overseas, and they didn`t really think about it being Valentine`s Day. Now, their family loves the idea that they celebrate their anniversary on that special day.

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