At first it sounds like a wonderful whirlwind romance - they met on Wednesday and married on Saturday.
But the truth is, it's a little more realistic.
"It's not the 'Leave It to Beaver' story," said Phyllis Garvin of her marriage to James "Ron" Garvin.
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Ron and Phyllis Garvin discuss their unique story of meeting and marrying recently at their Warren home.
Phyllis Garvin was raised by a foster family in West Virginia - one that she said took her in as one of their own. Her mother lived in Niles until a car accident in Lordstown took her life in 1957.
When she was almost 18, Garvin had been staying with her sister, who "bounced her out" because of her own marital problems.
So the young woman found herself in Niles for just the second time in her life, staying with her aunt.
Fact Box
After fighting, then falling in love, raising children,
dancing and dealing with illness, Ron and Phyllis Garvin
now have some advice to offer others:
"Once you make that commitment, it's not an easy road to travel."
"You don't know each other until you live with them - or until you share a bathroom."
"You better have a lot of understanding."
"All the issues you have with one,
you're gonna have again."
"When times are tough,
you have to cling to
each other."
"My mother and this aunt were the only two children from Grandpa's first marriage," she explained.
It was in the fall of 1960, and it was Ron Garvin's first cousin, Alta, who met Phyllis at the door.
On her 18th birthday, she went to the former Niles bar Patsy's, where on this particular Wednesday, the former Phyllis Brown and Ron Garvin were introduced.
On Thursday, they went on a date.
On Friday, there was nothing going on - no football game to attend or anything. The couple explained that the whole family and neighborhood was at Patsy's.
"Somebody said, 'Why don't you two get married?'" remembered Phyllis. "I said, 'Well, nobody asked.'
"So he asked, and I said 'yeah.'"
And it was set. Right there, they took a collection. Alta pawned her rings, while someone else lent the couple theirs to exchange.
And on Saturday, off they went to Monroe, Mich. Phyllis passed out after the required blood test.
"We got our license," Ron said, "and we're waiting in a line to get married in front of the judge."
At 18 and 22, patience was apparently not their strong suit, so the couple found a Methodist preacher and got married in a church.
So there followed 50 years of bliss, right? Not quite.
"We fought," Phyllis Garvin said. "We couldn't get along. We were strangers."
The newlyweds, as a couple, stayed with family at first.
But sometimes, Phyllis would stay at her aunt's or her sister's. She said she would go to West Virginia for two or three weeks at a time, and then Ron would come get her.
"The first time, her sister called," Ron Garvin remembered.
He said one time he went after her during a snowstorm, before the interstate was there, and it took him nine hours to go 200 miles.
"We did some dangerous things," he said.
"I ran away," said Phyllis, "but I always came back."
"I never waivered," Ron said.
Watching this couple today, at ages 69 and 73, it's hard to imagine them ever fighting.
They have three daughters, along with grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.
Their youngest daughter, Mona Marsh of Leavittsburg, said she'd always known about her parents' story - it had been talked about "since she was born" - but it didn't become significant until she was a teenager and then married herself.
"It was a big deal," Marsh said. "It was kind of a family joke when us kids all got older - 'Our parents only knew each other three days, and we've been disfunctional ever since.'
"Like everything, we made light of it," she said.
Although Marsh married at 19, she did know her husband for a year and a half before they married.
The Garvins didn't have a child until five years into their marriage, but Phyllis Garvin was babysitting a little one early in their relationship.
"That little baby changed the dynamics," she said. "I think even in the beginning, we had a purpose."
Marsh, now 41 with two daughters of her own, said sometimes it is surprising her parents made it. She said they went through a lot growing up in the Garvin household, and she thinks it's tough bringing kids up in this area.
"I'm very fortunate," Marsh said. "They have three daughters that are all college graduates, and neither one of them finished high school. They did something right - with just a little bit of craziness thrown in to spice things up once in a while."
The couple admit they weren't "in love" at first. But they say they learned to love each other and especially to care for each other.
"He lived that. He was sworn to take care of me, no matter what happened or what we went through," Phyllis said.
Marsh said her father's belief in what he wanted never changed.
Why'd they jump in like that all those years ago?
Phyllis said she wanted the security of having a husband. She needed a home.
Ron said he needed someone to do the dishes (he was joking).
Surprisingly, Marsh thinks that even now, other people could make it work in the same situation.
"You just have to want to or be really stubborn - an unwillingness to give up," she said.
"I think we both had a need for someone in our lives," Phyllis said.
They have enjoyed casinos and horse races and, "when they had wind," dancing.
"We had some good times," Phyllis Garvin said. "And nobody could dance better than us."