BLAIRSVILLE--Experts pore over numbers and surveys to determine the ingredients needed to create a successful marriage in today's generation, when all they really had to do was ask Paul and Sarah Elrick to discover the secret. The Elricks were married on July 16, 1937, and will celebrate 65 years of marriage this month--a feat almost unheard of in a world where "till death do us part" doesn't last too long. So what's the secret to putting up with your spouse for 65 years? "You both have to work together, have to be congenial and see the other person's side, that's for sure," said Paul. "Many a time you run against something you're sure cannot be solved, but things always work out for the best when you work together." Sarah believes their secret is "the respect we have for each other, and the fact that we still enjoy doing things together." They met when Paul was 19 and Sarah was 16 at the party of a mutual friend, and Paul asked if he could take her home that night. "He was so nice and easy-going, I just felt like we were friends for a long time," said Sarah. A seven-year relationship bloomed from there, though they knew each other casually before that night. Paul had just graduated from Blairsville High School, but Sarah Gerhard was a "Derry Township girl," he noted, though she lived right on the border between the two communities, growing up on a farm on the outskirts of Blairsville. After Sarah finished school, she got a job working in Harrisburg in the banking department of the capitol, but a long-distance relationship didn't deter the young couple. "He'd come to Harrisburg or I'd come home," said Sarah. "We'd see each other once a month if I could get the family car," added Paul. After three years working in the state capital, Sarah moved home after the change of political parties. A few years after she moved back to Blairsville, Paul took Sarah to a jeweler in town to pick out her engagement ring, "a beautiful diamond," according to Sarah. But Paul was a little modest about her choice of rings. "It wasn't that big, to tell you the truth," he said, though he had to pay it off in payments. They planned a spring wedding for the year 1937, but the unexpected death of Sarah's mother forced them to postpone the date until later in the summer. They were finally married in July by Rev. Saladay at the Methodist Church in Blairsville. "We didn't have a big wedding at all," said Paul. The couple also had to wait a year until they could take a honeymoon, because Paul worked at the former Blairsville Concrete Products Co.--now Wilbur Vault Co.--and wasn't allowed any vacation time at that point. One year later, the not-so-newlyweds were able to embark on a three-day tryst to Niagara Falls. After they married, the couple gathered up what furniture they could from their parents' attics, which they said consisted of some unpainted furniture, and moved into a "bungalow" on Cedar Avenue. Their first child, Kathie, was born in 1941, and Raymond followed four years later, in 1945. The couple fell on some hard times financially, but was able to purchase their first house on North Spring Street for $2,557. They had their home paid off in 10 years, and lived there for 41 years before moving to a home on May Street, where they now dwell. Paul discovered quickly the key to staying financially stable. "I still think today the lady can handle the money better than the man," he admitted. "Sarah could always make the money go further than I could." The couple was on a very limited budget--$5 a week for groceries because Sarah couldn't work while Kathie and Raymond were so young. "Our motto back then was, if you can't afford it, don't buy it," Sarah stated simply. Paul praised his wife for her strength during their first few years of parenting. "When I came home at night, she never brought up any of the problems that she had with the children during the day," he said. "When the children were young, she had a lot of responsibility because I was working all the time." "But Paul was always home in time to play with the children before bedtime," credited Sarah. After their two children were grown, Sarah took a job working for Sears in Indiana, while Paul continued his employment with Wilbert Vault begun in 1935. Paul held his vows to Sarah true to heart in 1975, when he said he had quite a scare after Sarah developed pneumonia and was admitted to the hospital, crediting that point of their marriage as the most trying. After her stay in the hospital, she was sent home to recuperate, only to find herself back in the hospital with double pneumonia. "I thought I was going to lose her," commented Paul. "But she made it through." "I had to. I had work to do," stated Sarah. The Elricks are aware of the risks of being a young married couple, but their advice to them is to follow in their footsteps and marry later in life. "There's a big advantage to going together for a while, getting to know your mate" said Paul. "In our day, people married very young. We were old for our age to get married at 27 and 24." "It takes two incomes to keep a family today," added Paul. "People marry older now in order to get their careers going so they can keep a family." Paul and Sarah both retired in 1976, but they've kept themselves busy. Paul continued to work after his retirement from Wilbert Vault Co., getting a job at Ed Baker's Ceramics--a job he kept for eight years after he retired. The Elricks both volunteered with the Blairsville Historical Society and are members of the Blairsville Grange, and Sarah remains active in the D.A.R. They also both served as elders at the Presbyterian Church in Blairsville, where Paul has been a member since 1925. "If your health is good and you have the time, it's good to volunteer your services," advised Sarah. Paul and Sarah's children each had two children of their own, and their family is now spread all over the United States. Kathie and her husband Daniel now live in Vero Beach, Fl., and have two daughters, Melinda, in Boston, and Christina, of Seattle, who also has a daughter, Noel. Raymond and his wife Sharon reside in Blairsville and have two sons, Stephen and Brad, who both stayed local--Stephen stayed in Blairsville and Brad lives in Greensburg. Stephen also gave the Elricks a great-granddaughter, Morgan. Sarah knows that she and her husband have accomplished a lot in their 65 years of marriage, but she's adamant about no longer celebrating their anniversary. "It's wonderful to have such great kids, but I told them, no more surprise anniversary parties. They live too far apart to keep doing that," she said, noting that they held a party for her and Paul's 40th, 50th and 60th anniversaries. Paul said he continually tries to keep open-minded with today's generation and their definitions of a relationship. "I go right along with the young kids," he said. "You've got to take care of the younger generation. It's a big change, but I go right along with it." Paul is now 91 and Sarah is about to turn 88--and they have no regrets. "We're still going," said Paul. "After 65 years of marriage, I wouldn't change it one bit."

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