Sidney Couple Celebrating 70 Years Together

Marriage is a commitment with blessings and challenges often sharing the same space in time. The depth of its challenges is evident by divorce rate statistics in the U.S. According to hopesandfears.com, the national average length of marriage in the U.S. is 8.2 years; 12.2 years for New Yorkers with most marriages lasting 10 to 14 years. Quora.com said the median length in the U.S. is 45 years.

A couple who live southwest of Sidney have both beat, together, and then some.

Robert and Eleanor Lafler met in high school, and married a short time after in an historical year, the year of the "blizzard of '49."

"She robbed the cradle," he says with a smile.

They were a year apart in high school. He jokes that he was born and raised about two miles from their current home. He didn't get far, he says.

Their first date was the prom. How they met is in the annals of history. She says Bob's sister was in her class. He recalls being encouraged to ask her out. There weren't any blinking stars or explosions of emotion. The two of them were "just there," she says. Regardless how it started, they have 70 years of history together as of Feb. 28. Most of that history is connected to a home facing southeast across Cheyenne County and into Colorado.

They were married at the Methodist church in downtown Sidney.

"We have lived here all our married life," Eleanor says.

He said they built the house in the early 1960s.

Along the way, the family expanded to include three children, six grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

"I don't know that we've done a lot of things," Eleanor says. "We had a few trips with Security Bank when they were doing it."

Bob's hobby of cars filled in some of the time, and offered opportunities for trips. In the early 1950s, he raced stock cars. That developed into antique cars. They took several trips with the Four Cylinder Chevrolet Tours, tour from the northwest to the southeast that covered about 25 years.

"We've been to Canada, Kentucky, about everywhere else with that car," he said.

The hobby of cars continued with him building a speedster that is still the guest of honor at family reunions.

Eleanor also took her turn behind the wheel, driving school buses for Lorenzo and for Sidney for 17 years.

She also recalls taking meals to the fields during harvest.

"That was a big job," she said.

Bob spends time in his machine shop, reading and putting together jigsaw puzzles. He does recognize the affect of time. He notes he is the remaining male from his high school graduating class of 65 students.

They maintain family has been, and continues to be, one of the most important values of their lives.