Arizona couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary

MESA, Ariz. — Eighty years is a long life. Eighty years of marriage is a testament to longevity -- and love.

Joseph Abelman and Lillian Abelman, of Mesa, Arizona, celebrated their 80th wedding anniversary this week, KNXV reported. Joseph is 101, and Lillian is 99.

Joseph Abraham Abelman and Lillian Mary Williams were married in California on April 11, 1939, according to marriage records at Ancestry.com. The couple met a a California dance studio in 1937, when Joseph Abelman asked to cut in during a dance, KNXV reported.

Wow! Today Joseph and Lillian Abelman celebrated their 80th anniversary. They are believed to be the longest-married couple living in Arizona: https://t.co/BHrMuzn1AO #abc15 pic.twitter.com/qP5qhef3Cl
— ABC15 Arizona (@abc15) April 18, 2019

“He asked her to dance, she actually went with another date but he ended up with her,” the couple’s daughter, Karen Huff, told the television station. “Eighty years later, this is it.”

The couple's secret to their long marriage is to remember the good times and end the day with a kiss, KNXV reported.

“They always kissed each other goodnight every night,” Huff told the television station. “That was the thing they always did and still do to this day.”

Joseph Abelman, who was born in San Antonio on Sept. 19, 1917, had another secret.

"Good cooking and a wonderful wife," he told KNXV.

Lillian Abelman was born in Los Angeles County on Sept. 3, 1920. They now have four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren and are considered the longest married couple now living in Arizona, the television station reported.

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