Endless love: The 100-year-old couple
What’s the secret to making romance last? If anyone should know, it’s Morris and Betty Markoff, who have been married for 78 years…
While many couples experience the seven-year itch, this couple didn’t. Nor the 70-year one, nor even the 77-year one! Because Morris and Betty Markoff, 103 and 100 respectively, have been married for nearly eight decades – a milestone most couples can only dream of.
And yes, even after all these years, the pair are still very much in love.
‘It’s been 78 years, so I obviously picked the right girl,’ Morris says, laughing.
‘And I didn’t do too badly either,’ Betty replies.
The pair met at a wedding in New York City, where Morris was sat between Betty and her cousin, Rose, an elegant, welldressed girl with rich parents. But it was Betty he paid more attention to, and Betty who he drove home.
‘He had dark, curly hair and was very handsome,’ Betty remembers. ‘Rose was far more sophisticated than me, so I was delighted when Morris offered me a lift.
‘I know now that he doesn’t like women with long, pink nails or too much make-up.’
‘Over the years, Betty has often asked me why I picked her over her cousin, and I always say it’s because she ate less,’ laughs Morris.
‘But in all honesty, I liked the fact that she was a simple, plain girl.’
And on that first journey home, something happened that made Betty further smitten with Morris.
‘The car broke down,’ she says. ‘But there was no swearing or shouting. He just got right out and fixed it, very calmly. I admired that in him.’
And even though Morris was then working as a machinist six days a week in Philadelphia, he would drive 100 miles back to see Betty in the Big Apple – a level of dedication that would impress any woman.
During these visits, Morris was a true gent.
‘Although he stayed over, he always slept in the porch bedroom,’ says Betty. ‘There was no hanky-panky at first – although that didn’t mean there was no snuggling.’
And when Morris got a job in California, he sent Betty the $35 for her bus fare to join him. The journey took her four days and when she arrived, Morris made some calls, found a chapel and the pair got married.
Since then, they’ve gone on to have a daughter and son, Judith, now 75, and Steven, 74, five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren – and despite the huge number of people who divorce each year, for them, it wasn’t an option.
‘ We’re not two little lovebirds dancing along, so yes, we’ve had our arguments and screaming matches,’ says Betty. ‘But it never went further than that.’
‘ You have to fight it out and leave it,’ says Morris. ‘Of course you’re going to have differences of opinion, but either you argue it out or you have to agree to disagree.’
Throughout their many years together, the couple have travelled the world with Morris’s airconditioning business, going to Asia, Africa and Europe. And even at 103, Morris maintains he’s still too busy to die.
‘A neighbour once asked me if Morris ever sat down,’ Betty laughs. ‘He used to love working with his hands, building and repairing furniture, but now he’s just finished writing a book called Keep Breathing. I’m really proud of his drive and ambition.’
The book came about after Morris suffered a heart attack the day before his 99th birthday. Betty walked in to their living room find him collapsed on the floor.
Although Morris technically died for several minutes, medics managed to bring him back to life – and it’s an experience that he doesn’t want to repeat.
‘I’ve died once, and that’s enough,’ he says.
In August last year, Betty celebrated her 100th birthday, meaning they have both hit their centenary. The family celebrated at their son’s house with a party.
‘I can’t believe I’m with a woman who is 100,’ jokes Morris. ‘I keep telling her I’ll swap her for two 50-year-olds.’
‘But I know he wouldn’t really like that,’ says Betty.
And despite their previously active lives, the pair are starting to slow down. ‘Since the heart attack, he’s still the same Morris, but there’s less that he’s able to do and he’s a bit slower to do it,’ Betty says. ‘I do a lot of sleeping – I’ve always liked sleeping.’
But for their age, the two are still extremely healthy and have outlived most of their friends and family.
So to what do they attribute their long lives?
Betty believes it’s down to her school nutrition classes, which taught her to always have protein with vegetables. But for Morris, the answer is far simpler.
‘It’s just luck,’ he says. ‘If we were religious, I’d say that we were blessed, but it’s nothing more than luck – and the best I can wish anyone is that they have the same luck we’ve had!’
‘We’ve had our arguments, as well as screaming matches!’