73 years and still happily married

A few hours before Hobert and Kathleen Shaffer met with neighborhood friends for Reflections on Silver Lake's 50-plus marriage anniversary party, they shared some laughs at home.

"We're two little love bugs," said 94-year-old Hobert Shaffer as he posed for a photo with his wife.

When asked if they ever thought they'd still be married after 73 years, Kathleen Shaffer, 90, laughed.

"No. No I didn't ... but I guess we just love each other," she said.

The Shaffers are one of 99 couples celebrating 50-plus years of marriage. They are also the couple who has been together the longest.

Reflections, a mobile home retirement community in Avon Park, started the anniversary party 18 years ago and has kept it going about every five years around Valentine's Day.

"The park does it for the residents because they appreciate it and we appreciate them," said Pam Fafeita, activities director.

In a corner of the community center was a section called Memory Lane. There photos and albums of married couples dating back to the 1930s, '40s and '50s were on display.

Before the anticipated 400 guests arrived, Dick Jones, a resident, browsed through the photos and albums. In a picture frame were his friends Marilyn and Bill Igel's marriage photo next to a more recent photo of them.

"It's nice to see how our friends looked like when they were young," Jones said.

On another table were Joan and Ron Myers who were married in 1959. Nearby was a black-and-white photo of Donald and Marlene Swank who got married on Oct. 16, 1954.

Back at the Shaffer's home, daughter-in-law Sandy Shaffer, 65, showed off a calendar with photos of her in-laws throughout the years.

As she browsed through photos of Hobert Shaffer's 80th birthday, the couple's vacations in Daytona Beach and family portraits, she smiled at the notes she printed out on the calendar: All these years and still looking good.

Hobert and Kathleen Shaffer met in 1935 when Hobert worked on Kathleen's uncle's farm. They married a year later and had four children.

Although they can't remember all the details of when they first met, they know their first car together was a Model T Ford, and Franklin D. Roosevelt was president.

Their son, Gene Shaffer, 68, said his parents never argued in front of him or his three other siblings.

"They were happy and laughed a lot ... my parents are very happy go-lucky," Gene Shaffer said.

Maybe that's the secret to a long marriage he suggested.