Couple celebrates their 100th birthdays ahead of their 80th wedding anniversary
Being all cooped up due to the novel coronavirus has made a lot of us feel like we’ve been with our partners for 80 years.
But Billy and Nellie Jones of Savannah, Georgia are different.
They were born just 4 days apart in 1920. Now, they’re celebrating – a properly socially-distanced – 100th birthday together.
Billy and Nellie Jones, a Savannah couple married for almost 80 years, celebrated their 100th birthdays together yesterday. They were born four days apart in 1920. pic.twitter.com/Wy5QQNtblO
— Everything Georgia (@GAFollowers) August 9, 2020
The couple feels blessed to have come this far and couldn’t believe that their friends and neighbors helped them celebrate by decorating the front lawn of the home they’ve owned and lived in since 1958 and pulling off a drive-by parade to congratulate the pair.
“Very very loved, for somebody to do all this work. I’m speechless too, not speechless that they love but that somebody would go through all this trouble,” Mrs. Jones told WJCL 22 News.
Making it to 100 is a big deal. But they’re celebrating another milestone soon as well – their 80th wedding anniversary!
They’ve seen a lot of change over the last century – and they’ve watched things change drastically around them during the 61 years they’ve lived in their home. But one thing has remained the same.
“We haven’t changed,” said Mr. Jones.
Jones recalled meeting his future wife to the local news:
“I said ‘Who is that?’ and ‘Oh that’s Nellie Zipperer, she’s in my class. Would you like to meet her?’ So he turned the car around and introduced me to Nellie Zipperer,” he said. “The same girl as a teenager in high school and marrying and staying with her for 79 years, can’t beat that.”
The couple has three sons, six grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.
“100 years of just love and honor and character that they’ve taught us,” said Anne Jones of spending time with her in-laws in early August.
The immediate family was able to get together at the house while others drove by and honked their congratulations.
Living to be 100 is incredibly rare, especially in the U.S. In fact, far less than 1% of the population lives a century – it’s more like 0.017%. Two members of a couple doing it? Well, that’s really beating the odds.
Those who live to be older than the average are often asked what their secret is – and their answers have ranged from going to church to a glass of bourbon a day (not that that are mutually exclusive).
Here is a story that will make your heart melt! Billy and Nellie Jones have been married for nearly 80 years and celebrated their 100th birthdays together with a socially distant parade. #lovehttps://t.co/u86POW7PJq
— Q929FM (@Q929FM) August 23, 2020
But one thing researchers often find in the extreme elderly all over the world is that they maintain a sense of purpose – whether it’s in their family or community. For the Joneses, working hard no matter what your job is and trusting God were the keys.
That doesn’t explain how they managed to stay together for nearly 80 years though – we’d like to know that secret too!
The last couple we heard of that made it that long was John and Charlotte Henderson of Austin, Texas who were an astounding 106 and 105 when they celebrated their anniversary last year! That also made them the Guinness Book of World Records’ “Oldest Living Couple.”
John Henderson and his wife Charlotte are the oldest living couple in the world. ❤️
Dec. 15 will mark their 80th year of marriage: https://t.co/9wmDGiEVtj pic.twitter.com/e29M2uvRYG
— Complex (@Complex) November 8, 2019
Their secret? Live life in moderation and be cordial to your spouse.
Be sure to scroll down to see photos from the Joneses wonderful birthday parade.
And we’ll be looking forward to the next story when they get a chance to celebrate that anniversary!
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Source: YouTube – First Baptist Church, Savannah, Georgia, WJCL News, CNN