Oklahoma Couple Celebrates 70 Years Of Marriage

An Oklahoma couple is celebrating their 70<sup>th</sup>&nbsp;anniversary together.

Saturday, July 21st 2012, 7:46 pm

By: News 9


An Oklahoma couple is celebrating their 70th anniversary together.

"The way I describe love and type we've had, you want to be together all the time, it started out that way and it's still that way," 88-year-old Leonard Winans said.

It's a love story 70 years strong for Leonard and Louis Winans.

"I'd never met any boy, anybody like him. He treated me like a princess since we met," Louis said,

Sparks flew when Leonard and Louis first met at a western show in Oklahoma.

"[The show] just cost a dime to get in then," said Leonard.

"I had just broke up with my boyfriend and thought I'd give [my ex] a scare," said Louis.

"She went with me for spite in other words, but look what she got into," said Leonard.

Louis was just 16 when they got married.

"I was afraid someone else would get her," said Leonard.

"I think one reason was the time. It was [1942] and we knew he was going to be drafted soon," Louis said.

Leonard served as a sergeant in the Army during World War II and Louis was a single mom on the home front.

"I had an 8 by 10 picture of him on my dressing table," Louis said.

"She wrote me a letter every day, I think. I might get a dozen in one day, because slow mail back then," said Leonard.

The couple says the 70 years flew by fast and that they have had their ups and downs.

"Fight? Why no," Louis said sarcastically.

"You gotta work at it. It don't just come. And when you get mad don't ever be too stubborn to say ‘I'm sorry' even if it wasn't your fault," said Leonard. "She might've thought about murder a few times, but not divorce."

The couple says there isn't really a secret to their love story.

"She's just her. She's just a sweet girl I met 70 years ago and to me she still is. She's always been good to me, still is," said Leonard.

"I guess it was just meant to be you know?" said Louis.

News 9 asked the Winans if it was hot like this on their wedding day. Leonard says he does not remember heat like this and they didn't have air conditioning back in those days.

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