"Good Neighbors on Delmarva ... Friends First "
By Lisa Spicer

February is here and store displays are trading snowflakes and Christmas trees for red hearts and cupids. There are chocolates to be wrapped and special dinners to plan as we embrace Valentine.s Day with its promise of love and happiness.

But will that love survive after the chocolate is gone and the cards forgotten? No one can say for sure. Unless your love has faced the test of time, that is.
Art and Janice Davis of Bishopville have passed that test. They recently celebrated 50 years of marriage.

“We still like to do crossword puzzles together,” says Jan. Art adds, “We enjoy each other.s company.”

I know that first hand, because Art and Jan are my in-laws, and while enjoying the same hobbies and each other’s company sounds nice, it hardly sounds like enough to keep two people together for fifty years.

So what does make a marriage that lasts for a lifetime?

Perhaps it’s because they shared their thoughts and feelings in letters for a year before they ever dated.

“He was working all the time and I would stop by and hang out with him where he was working at Seventh Street in Ocean City. We got to know each other before we ever went out. We didn’t have dates our first year. We wrote letters all the time.”

Perhaps their years together have been shaped by living in a small town. While Jan grew up in Baltimore, she spent summers in Ocean City and moved there when she and Art married in 1955. Art grew up in Ocean City.

“My mother had five brothers who all raised their kids in Ocean City, so there were cousins by the dozens. Every time we went out, she met another cousin. We were part of the community.”
Jan adds, “I think that may be what goes wrong for couples today. They move all over the place and don’t have family or friends there. I married into a huge family and that was great.”

Perhaps their marriage has lasted because roles were more clearly defined in the fifties. “I don’t want to sound old fashioned,” reflects Jan, “but in our day, when our kids were little, our roles were defined. He went to work, he was the provider, and it was my job to run the house. Today people are torn with what their roles should be.”

Perhaps their lasting marriage is built on all the things the couple has accomplished on their own. Art is a past president of both the O.C. Volunteer Fire Department and the Lions Club. He ran a bank and has been involved in the resort’s downtown revitalization. Jan rented rooms and apartments during the summer months, is a founding member of the Ocean City Museum Society, helped create the education department at the Salisbury Zoo, and even traveled to Belize to help map uncharted trails through the rain forest.
“I wasn’t thrilled when she went to Belize, but it made her happy,” Art remembers. She says, “He supported me in all that.”
Could it be that raising three children helped Art and Jan sticks it out through good times and bad? Perhaps. Or maybe it was the first spark of interest when they met.

“I saw this tall good looking guy on the beach,” Jan smiles. Art is quick to reply, “I was fascinated by her long legs.”

We can wonder what it takes to keep every day fresh and new for fifty years, but Art and Jan say it’s simply because they like each other so much.

“I think the secret is when you really respect and like one another. When you enjoy being with somebody.”

“And we are best friends.”

These best friends are also two Good Neighbors on Delmarva.