We are in Abilene for Ann’s parent’s wedding anniversary and 90th birthdays. The article below appeared in the local paper. We’re looking forward to the weekend when there will be a reception and several family gatherings.
Celebrating 70 years together
Reporter-News photo by Thomas Metthe
L. Arnold Watson and his wife, Ruby Mae White Watson, stand outside the administration building at Abilene Christian University, where they met in 1937, when ACU was still Abilene Christian College. The couple’s 70th wedding anniversary is April 30.
It was the spring of 1937, and Ruby Mae White had just graduated from Abilene High School and Arnold Watson had received his high school diploma in Idaho.
Whether it was destiny or coincidence, the two eventually met, and that meeting would lead to a 70-year marriage.
Ruby Mae and Arnold Watson’s wedding anniversary is April 30, but they will celebrate this lifelong union with family and close friends April 25.
The couple, both 90 years old, met after Ruby Mae received a half scholarship to pursue a business degree and Arnold left Idaho to pursue ministry at Abilene Christian College, now a university.
The future couple inevitably shared courses at ACC, where they sat side by side in English and Bible classes thanks to alphabetical seating.
After more than a year of dating, the couple married and began their lifelong journey as man and wife. After college, they traveled while Arnold preached. He later finished his degree and earned a master’s degree and retired after a lifetime of preaching.
The couple had three sons and two daughters, 14 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren.
If you asked the couple how they were able to stay together for 70 years, they would both respond: Happy marriages just don’t happen, it’s something you work at.
Ruby Mae, a homemaker, said a mixture of humor, respect and appreciation helped contribute to the couple’s long-lasting relationship.
“You need a sense of humor and sometimes you need to tie a knot and hold on, because there will be tough and trying times,” Ruby Mae said. “There also needs to be a lot of respect and appreciation. My husband still thanks me for every meal when he gets up from the table. I enjoy that.”
Arnold also devised a family rule when the two married to emphasize the importance of communication.
“A kind of a rule I had fairly early in our marriage was that we never went to bed at night mad at each other. If there had been an argument that night, we would settle it,” Arnold said.
Arnold and Ruby Mae both shared the same Christian faith, and they said that faith was the cornerstone of their marriage.
“The fact that we began unified in our religious convictions helped build our marriage,” Arnold said. “I can’t imagine what it would be like if one of us were of a different faith working through some of the challenges that come with marriage and having a family. I think that’d be tough.”
Now after 70 years, the Watsons’ love for one another still grows.
“You don’t quit loving each other it’s a deeper love that grows, a love of respect as you get older,” said Ruby Mae. “Till the Good Lord sees fit to take one of us to be with him, we’ll be together and be happy.”
