You know you have a partner you can count on.

It all began with the girl next door.

In the 70’s, Gainesville, FL was all sun-warmed sidewalks, cicadas humming through humid afternoons, and the low buzz of student life. In the middle of it, Jamie and Larry were neighbors—until they weren’t just neighbors anymore.

Larry was a junior at the University of Florida, moving fast on his path towards medical school. And living just a few doors down was Jamie—working in healthcare and gaining her residency. At first, it was just a smile, a wave, a crossed path here and there. But something shifted when they landed in the same circle of friends. Late nights turned into shared jokes, shared errands, shared silences that didn’t feel empty. Neither one can name the exact moment it changed. But somewhere between hello and I love you, it did.

The connection deepened quickly. Soon, all the things they shared felt like something they could actually build a future on. There was only one wrinkle. Larry's parents, devoted Catholics, wanted Jamie—raised Methodist—to commit to Catholicism. In her hometown of Ocala, Florida, she found a Catholic church and began attending. It was a quiet gesture, but one that spoke volumes—not just to Larry’s family, but to Larry himself.

A few months into Larry’s first year of medical school, they found themselves 15 months apart, learning how to love across distance, time zones, and calendars. They got engaged early in that stretch and planned their wedding to fall during Larry’s one-week school break.

It was difficult, but it taught them long term planning and ultimately, led to their marriage. They still laugh about that week—how they fit a wedding, a honeymoon, and a whole lifetime of promises into seven days flat.

It wasn’t grand gestures that held them together, but the ordinary ones.

Jamie and Larry have spent decades showing up for each other. Sometimes, in ways you can see, but often in ways you can’t. They both cared for Jamie’s mother in their home for over twenty years.  Jamie supported Larry’s career, both as a doctor and as he served in the Army. Larry supported Jamie through her fight with cancer and continues to supports her every day. And together, they’ve raised a family—navigating the learning curves and small miracles that come with building a life with children. Each moment, each miracle, creating a lifelong rhythm of putting one another first.

Jamie calls herself the planner. Larry is the one who makes it happen. “It’s like a dance,” she says. “We’ve just learned the steps over time.”

Not every chapter was smooth. During the middle of his career, Larry faced some difficult professional circumstances—frustrations and uncertainty that could have driven a wedge between them. Instead, it drew them closer. “We leaned on each other more than ever,” Larry says. “That’s when we really learned what it meant to be a team. It enables you to take one step at a time together, and get through anything.”

They’re the couple who show up at the family reunion and get called, as they affectionately noted, the “old elephants”—the wise ones, the quiet leaders. It’s not a title they gave themselves, but one that came with time. And the moment they named as one of the proudest they’ve had since being married. “We’ve become an example,” Jamie says. “And that’s not something we take lightly.”

Now, their time is their own—and they fill it with care.

They travel when they can, especially to visit family. They love being surrounded by the people they’ve helped raise—children, grandchildren, chosen family too. They still serve together at church and in their community, and they make space for the quiet rituals of connection: sitting side by side, checking in, celebrating the small, ordinary joys. These moments, they say, are sacred.

“We’ve just learned the steps over time.”

They’re not loud about their love. But it’s there—in every act of service, every cup of coffee poured, every moment held with care. It’s the kind of wisdom that doesn’t ask to be noticed—just lived. The kind that earns you a nickname like the old elephants, and a legacy that lingers.