Oldest Living Couple Reveals The Secret To Marital Success

There are marriage anniversaries and then there are marriage anniversaries: John and Charlotte Henderson’s upcoming 80th anniversary falls into the latter category. 

They pair will be celebrating eight decades of marriage on December 15, but that’s not all: The two lovebirds from Austin, Texas, just claimed the Guinness World Record  title of the oldest married couple in the world with their combined age of 211.

John, now 106, met Charlotte, now 105, when they were students at the University of Texas in 1934, just around the height of the Great Depression . At the time, John was a guard for the football team while Charlotte was studying to become a teacher. 

As they tell it, it was pretty much a case of love at first sight: John noticed his future spouse in a lecture hall one day and quickly made his move. 

“Charlotte looked over her shoulder and smiled and I knew I wanted to take her on a date,” he told TODAY . “She was anxious for me to ask her!” 

The Hendersons, who have no children, were married five years later. They told CNN that they spent a grand total of $7 on the hotel room for their honeymoon.

The couple have lived at Longhorn Village , a retirement community in Austin, for the past decade. They’re still big Longhorns fans; they watch games in their downtime together and John tries to attend at least one game every season. 

Luckily for all of us, the loved-up centenarians are quick to reveal their time-tested formula for a long life and a happy marriage. The trick to reaching 100-plus? 

“Living in moderation,” John said in an interview with Kaiser Health News  back in 2017. “We never overdo anything. Eat well. Sleep well. Don’t over-drink. Don’t overeat. And exercise regularly.”

Charlotte chimed in, saying that just being married has helped them pass 100. 

“We had such a good time when John retired. We traveled a lot,” she said. “We just stay busy all the time, and I’m sure that helps.”