On a recent Sunday, Anita and Ross Price, of Greenmount, heard their preacher talk about how "first loves" don't last.

"He doesn't know what he was talking about, because it just happened," Anita, 84, quipped.

She should know — she and Ross have shared 69 years of love.

"We never dated anyone else or anything," Ross said. "It just clicked, and that's the way it went."

The Prices recently celebrated 65 years of marriage, and they say the secret is patience, leading a church-centered life and having some friends along the way.

The love at first sight began while they both attended the old Sparks High School, in Baltimore County.

At that time, little Anita Miller, of Hereford, wanted big city lights, but there was something about a farm boy from Sparks named Ross Price that caught her eye nearly 70 years ago.

"My grandfather used to say, 'You'll marry a farmer some day,' " Anita said. "Not me, no way."

Yes, way.

The two attended the Cockeysville Fireman's Carnival together, with a friend of Ross's. Anita's aunt had to come along since Anita was not allowed to date until she turned 16.

"I was 14 and he was 15, and I wasn't allowed to date," Anita said. "We don't know how it happened, but we think the Lord had something to do with it."

The real first date came at a bazaar at Sparks High School.

Anita wasn't much for attention.

"I was very timid, shy," she said, laughing.

Ross popped the question on Christmas Eve 1943, and Anita knew it was coming. So did her parents.

"We were together for so long they kind of expected it," Anita said.

The Prices grew up during The Great Depression and the era of two world wars, so they had a modest wedding at Hereford United Methodist Church on Dec. 15, 1944.

For $125 and change, they had a simple, but memorable, candlelight service. For a honeymoon, friends donated gas ration coupons — another sign of those times was gas was rationed for the war effort — and they went to Gettysburg.

"We weren't money people, that's for sure," Anita said. "I didn't even wear a long gown (for the wedding). I wore street clothing."

The first year was a rocky one, Ross admitted. The couple lived with Anita's grandmother because they couldn't afford a home.

"There was no place else to go," he said. "Having a young couple in with an 80-year-old woman was kind of odd."

Soon enough, a 19-year-old Anita had confronted farming life. Milking cows by hand, painting barns, growing crops were just a few of the skills she needed to master.

The couple became tenant farmers, trying to prove to landowners they can make something out of the land, before they could earn enough money to buy a farm outright.

"He was a very patient man because I made a lot of dumb mistakes trying to learn to be a farmer," Anita said. "He wouldn't let me back out and say I'm not going to do it again."

In the early days of the marriage, Anita also worked at Black & Decker in Towson, making $29 a week while Ross farmed.

"We weren't making much money. It was rough," Anita said. "We had a lot of lessons to learn."

After 10 years of tenant farming, they found 110 acres in Greenmount, Caroll County, that nobody wanted -- it was too rocky, the buildings weren't in great shape and the land didn't yield much. It was theirs for $23,500.

"I was 30 years old and said if I don't buy a farm this year, I'm going to quit," Ross said. "We found this one in 1954."

Money continued to be tight trying to raise four children: Cindy Price of Dundalk, Charlene Carroll and Gary Price of Hampstead and Linda Symes of Pasadena.

Ross also drove a school bus for 26 years to help keep the family in the red.

Several pieces of humanity will get you through life and find love, they said.

The Prices said being involved with church has been the first priority.

"It gives you stability, it gives you faith," Ross said.

And compromise is a necessity, the couple said.

"It works," Anita said.

Just feeling the affection from a loved one is important, too.

"I always told my kids -- always touch, even if it's just your hands or putting your hand on a shoulder," she said. "Touching is a very necessary thing, and we did a lot of that."

Ross said friends are as vital as anything.

"The more friends you have, the better off you are," he said. "I feel sorry for people who don't have any friends, man."

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user comments (2)

user kristen1189 says...

I am so very lucky to call these two amazing people my grandparents :) Love you, Grandma and Pop!! -Kristen

Posted 10:25 PM, 02.14.10

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user herkdia says...

Congratulations, Mom and Dad! We are so proud of our parent's dedication to each other all these years. They are both hard workers and have instilled values in our family that we hope to carry on. We love you! Linda

Posted 11:18 PM, 02.16.10

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