Leo (92) and Barbara (89) Moss met and started dating in high school in 1950. After graduation in 1951 Leo was involved in a serious car accident and was in a coma for 5 days. It was this accident that made us realize we never wanted to be apart, and we decided to get married. We married on February 16, 1952 and are celebrating our 71st anniversary this year.

After marriage, we worked the farm with Leo’s parents but a year later we had the opportunity to rent a gas station business in Rochester, WI from Barb’s parents and eventually bought that business in 1960. We continued to raise a wonderful family of 5 children in Rochester. Our family grew over the years to include 15 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren, and 9 great-great grandchildren. We love them all but don’t ask us their names!

When we decided to retire, we sold our home in Rochester and bought a fifth wheel travel trailer with the intent to travel 7 months out of the year and spend the summers at our northern Wisconsin property where Leo and our kids hunted for many, many years. We were lucky to be able to see all parts of the US and Mexico over the next 23 years! We were fortunate to make many new friends along the way, some of which we still connect with.

Life wasn’t always easy for us. In 2014 we lost our oldest son to cancer. It’s during times like this we leaned on each other to get through the terrible grief. Leaning on each other during good times and bad is what has made our marriage special.

Marriage Advice: Before getting married be sure you are truly in love. Be prepared for good times, hard times, and sad times. Be there to comfort each other. Also, couples need to live within their means because money can become a problem.