[title subtitle=”words: Liesel Schmidt
image courtesy: Simply SG Photography; bee photos courtesy Isaac Jetton”][/title]
When you reach your golden years, it’s only natural to look back and think about all that has happened throughout the course of your life: the journeys you’ve taken, the lessons you’ve learned. The regrets and the triumphs, the failures and the accomplishments. And, of course, the loves you’ve had. For some, those loves are fleeting; but for the lucky ones—the blessedones—those loves last a lifetime and stand by our sides no matter what trials come our way.
For Bill and Erma Jetton, that lifetime of love is a real thing, something that has stood the test of time and lasted more than sixty years. At eighty-seven, Bill certainly has stories to tell, his age hardly an inhibition to his desire to stay active and his young spirit. And keeping pace right alongside him is Erma, whose support and love and strength have helped keep their marriage—and their family—going strong throughout the years. The pair makes an indisputably perfectly-imperfect match, their individual strengths balancing out their individual weaknesses, their oddities and quirks softened through the filter of time to become endearing characteristics that make them comfortingly familiar to one another. They are what most couples strive to be when they meet and fall in love and commit to a lifetime, achieving years of togetherness even when circumstances challenged their determination and could have torn them apart.
Their story starts off as an unexpected meeting that shouldn’t, by all logic, have ended up as love. And while eighteen-year-old Erma might have been on his friend’s arm when Bill first clapped eyes on her at a party in 1949, circumstances threw them together when the twenty-year-old airman started working for her father as a farmhand while he was stationed at Fort Worth, and the two eventually began dating. A year later, they made it official when they walked down the aisle on August 1, 1952, at Elm Grove Baptist Church in the nearby town of Azle, Texas.
Through the course of their marriage, they’ve watched the progression of time, been in the thick of it with the many changes that have shaped the world. During his career in the Air Force, Bill served through the challenges of the Korean and Vietnam wars, while Erma worked as an AT&T phone operator before leaving the workforce to become a homemaker and take care of their two children, Billy and Cyndi. And through it all, each found their place of fulfillment, sharing their burdens and their blessings, supportive of whatever needed to happen for the good of their marriage and the family they were working to create.
So, is there a secret to their success? Naturally, it takes patience to weather the years together, a deep understanding that love and marriage is a commitment and a choice, every day, to stay. As Bill and Erma look back over their marriage, they see the challenges they’re proud to have overcome, the mistakes they’ve made and learned from, the joys and the sorrows. And all of them were experienced together.
“One of the most difficult times in our marriage came early on, when Erma began to struggle with depression,” Bill recalls when asked about some of their greatest challenges as a couple. “Depression wasn’t something doctors knew much about at the time, so we spent years trying to find a diagnosis. Depression was also not something that was openly talked about or really understood until more recently. It left us feeling isolated.”
“The years that Bill was stationed overseas were also a struggle,” adds Erma. “I was taking care of his elderly mother while raising two kids in a town and state that was unfamiliar.” Keeping the home fires burning and shouldering the brunt of the responsibilities of everyday life at home, Erma found a strength in herself that served her well as the years went by. And, by extension, that strength fed into the strength of their family and their marriage.
Balancing out the trials are, of course, the triumphs: building a home—“without the help of YouTube videos!” laughs Bill, who built their house with the help of their son, Billy; building a company once Bill’s military career came to an end in 1970. An avid aviator and skilled mechanic, he went on to build ultralight airplanes and opened his very own airport, establishing a solid business presence in the Fort Smith area. And, of course, there was their shared achievement of building a supportive, loving family that now includes four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
They’ve also shared many adventures together—some big, some small. “Waking up next to her every morning is certainly one!” Bill jokes, showing his sense of humor. Fortunately, Bill and Erma seem united by the same passion for the open road, a fact clearly represented in their list of what one might consider their greatest escapades. They’ve ridden motorcycles together through the coconut groves while stationed in Puerto Rico and taken family vacations each year to the Grand Canyon and California in the family station wagon, over the years upgrading first to a truck with a camper shell, then to an actual camper—all without the benefit of GPS. Most of all, their greatest adventure has been, in their estimation, “just getting old together.”
Even after all these years, the couple is still learning things about one another, and they continue to surprise one another. “One of the things that still surprises me is how much she talks!” Bill says with a smile and a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “She was so quiet when we were dating, but since we got married, she hasn’t quit talking!”
“I’m always surprised by how strong Bill was and still is,” Erma says, the warmth of her words reflective of how much she respects her husband’s character. That respect is held in equal measure, which is key to the longevity of their relationship, though there are a few other things that come into play, as well. “Keeping a marriage strong is always letting her buy what she wants!” Bill jokes. “But when we don’t see eye to eye, one of us goes for a drive.”
For Erma, the secret to a strong marriage ultimately comes down to one word: “Prayer!” she laughs.
Seeing them together, it’s clear that they keep one another young, as does their determination not to let the years slow them down. For Bill, his love of animals helps keep him active and on the move, from keeping up with a new puppy and taking walks with the dog and cat to raising cattle for fun. He also enjoys working on tractors and lawnmowers; getting out and working in the garden; and beekeeping. Also,a lover of the outdoors with a green thumb of her own, Erma loves gardening, as well, though she also seems to be quite the social butterfly. “I love playing bingo at the senior center, listening to Alan Jackson’s Christian CD, playing dominos, and…shopping!” she says with a grin, looking younger than her years as she slips a knowing glance at her husband.
It’s that look of youth, that unmistakable love of life and love for one another that make this couple so special. And as Bill and Erma Jetton look back over their marriage, they can be proud of the legacy they’ve created and the example they’ve set. Theirs is a story to aspire to, a story to learn from. Theirs is a story of the choice to love, a choice to grow together rather than apart. And the story isn’t a fairytale—which makes it so much better to tell.
