27 Couples Who've Made It Through The Years

Brandon Stanton captures these well-weathered relationships at their best. And if they can make it, so can we.

1. Together, they shaped their ideals into a reality.

Couple: “We were both involved in the civil rights movement. We met 47 years ago on a picket line.”

2. He's always found her attractive.

Photographer: “What’s your favorite thing about your wife?”

Man: “She’s sexy.”

3. She is his rock. And vice versa.

Man: "My favorite thing about her is how consistent she’s been.”

Woman: “And that’s my answer too. For 56 years he has been amazingly supportive of everything I’ve wished to do.”

4. He's affectionate after all these years, even if he hates admitting it.

Woman: “He’s really sweet and sensitive.”

Man [looks up at the sky]: “Oh God.”

5. Their love remains, even after her memories are gone.

I [the photographer] wandered into the lobby of a nursing home on the Upper West Side and discovered this man, who was on his way to deliver a yellow bear to his wife. “I visit her every day,” he said. “Even when the mind is gone, the heart shows through.”

6. He calls her "lovah."

Photographer: “Are you married?”

Man: “No, we’re lovers.”

[laughter]

Woman: “He wasn’t joking.”

7. After a lifetime of memories, he's still hungry to make more with her.

This man was from Israel and had a very thick accent, so he was a little difficult to understand. He was standing alone when I [the photographer] found him, but he kept telling me he wanted to take a picture with “his bike.” I couldn’t see a bike anywhere, so I kept asking him to repeat himself. “My bike,” he said, “my bike.” Just when I was about to give up, his bike walked up.

8. Neither of them ran when it got difficult.

“16 years.”

9. She showed him a whole new world.

Man: ”I love her sensitivity and civilization. I grew up in the Tasmania region of Australia. Back then, it was a very primitive place. She really showed me how to be cultured.”

10. She's never been afraid of putting in the work. Neither has he.

Photographer: “So what’s the relationship between you two?”

Couple: “It’s…in progress.”

11. Even when he doesn't hear her, he always understands her.

Woman: “We’ve been together a long, long time...he may not be able to understand you too well right now, but he’s a sweet old bird yet.”

12. He goes to incredible lengths to make her happy.

Photographer: “Fifty Shades of Grey, huh?"

Man: “My wife and I are reading it together.”

13. She never stopped thinking about him, even with an entire ocean between them.

Woman: “He was my first love. We dated for ten days when we were very young, but my mom would not allow the relationship. She told me: ‘He’s an American, and he’s an actor. He’ll never make anything of himself.’ Then she told me: ‘There are millions of men, but I’m your only mother.’ She told me to never contact him again, and I listened to her. She took me to Korea for awhile, and when I came back, I never made contact with him again. I never even gave him an explanation. That was over twenty years ago. Then four years ago I Googled him. I saw that he was running a theater company. I wrote him a long letter out of the blue, explaining everything. We’d both been married. We both had kids. But here we are—finally together.”

14. He always puts his arm around her when he can.

15. He wooed her.

On being together for 35 years:

Woman: “He does absolutely everything for me, I’m completely spoiled.”

Man: “I used to be a butcher. [leans forward and whispers] She used to come into my store. Every week I would set apart the best piece of meat for her. And look how it turned out—I ended up with the best piece of meat of them all.”

16. He's still unintentionally adorable after all these years.

17. She was and is his greatest adventure.

On what their favorite thing about each other is:

Woman: “No matter what, he makes the best of it.”

Man: “Her sense of adventure.”

18. He'll be by her side, even if the journey inches along.

19. Her love is still electrifying.

20. He's always made her laugh.

Photographer: “What’s your favorite thing about your wife?”

Man: “I can’t say that in public!”

21. He loves being with a woman he can look up to.

22. He still marvels at the incredible woman on his arm.

23. They've always been a matching set.

Photographer: “You two look like you go together”

Couple: “We’ve gone together for 50 years.”

24. Even though it took decades for others to recognize the strength of their love, they never doubted it for a second.

I [the photographer] had just finished photographing these two in Union Square, when they informed me that they were the first gay couple to get married in Canada.

25. He's always made the silence comfortable.

26. She's always helped him pick out the perfect tie.

"We get along good.”

27. Together, they're forever young.