‘Love does it’: Maine couple share secret to 70 years of marriage

After 70 years of marriage, Jean and Lawrence "Bud" Lyford can sum up the secret to their success in one word: "Love."

The Lyfords met in high school in 1936. They wed 70 years ago, on March 18, 1944.

Bud served in the military in Germany during World War II, where he was seriously wounded by exploding shrapnel. He wrote Jean love letters every day he was away. She still has them.

The inseparable duo, who live in Maine, are still going strong.

"I've got my diamond he gave me and I've got my wedding ring and I've never had my wedding ring off," Jean tells WLBZ News in Bangor, Maine — and now the two are sharing the secrets of their wedded bliss.

When Jean starts sharing that she believes that were "just meant to be," Bud interrupts:

"Love. Love. Love does it. We love each other immensely and always have."

There you have it. "Love does it."

In December, a Nova Scotia couple celebrating 78 years of marriage also credited love — and enjoying each other's company — as the glue that kept them together for decades. Oh, and not entertaining the alternative.

"I wasn't going to live here alone," Bertie Nickerson said. "You've got to stay around. You remember that, boy. Don't you go and leave me."

Other long-marriage secrets we've heard include daily pancakes, laughter and veggies and stubbornness.

What do you think it takes to make a marriage work? (Love and daily pancakes can't hurt.)