Lasting Love

Author Sheila Burke once wrote, “There are no accidental meetings between souls.” And, yet, here’s a love story that started just as that – with an accident.

It was the summer of 1947, and Betty was on her way to work in downtown Chicago. She was riding the city’s “L” train when an accident occurred on the tracks ahead. While she and her friends waited for the tracks to be cleared, she met Bob.

Bob, a Marine who served in WWII, started chatting with Betty on the train and later invited her for coffee once they made it to their stop. They parted ways with no plans to see each other again. However, after that day, there Bob was waiting for the train.

“I saw him standing on the curb, jumping up and down waving,” said Betty. “That’s when he asked me out. We were engaged by September and married January 31, 1948.”

Now at 94 and 97, with eight children, 13 grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren later, the Hopkins are celebrating a wedding anniversary that less than one-tenth of Americans ever reach – their 75th!

According to Bob and Betty, there isn’t a “secret” to a long and happy marriage, but the fact that Bob traveled for work and had regular date nights certainly helped.

“We just took it one day at a time,” said Bob.

“He’d bring me flowers every Friday and take me dancing,” said Betty.

But it was far more than that, according to their adult children, many of who joined them at Sky Ridge to celebrate this momentous anniversary and told how they always made time for each other, held hands where ever they went, and were examples of putting each other and family first.

“They’d always stay up on Christmas Eve after the kids were tucked in and exchange one gift just between them,” said the youngest daughter, Mary.

“My husband brings me flowers regularly as Bob did for Betty,” said daughter-in-law, Wendy.

“Mom has always been a caregiver for our family – she still is,” said Mary. “She always ensures dad is well cared for and looks his best.”

With love like theirs, maybe it wasn’t an accident after all. Perhaps it is genuinely two romantic souls destined to meet on that L train and forever entwined.

Happy anniversary Bob & Betty!