For Christmas eighth grade year, he gave her a pearl pendant. For her birthday a few weeks later, he gave her the ring to match. Marilyn’s parents did not like that. In that era, they thought the ring symbolized a whole lot more than it should.

Marilyn Sauer did not keep the ring because her parents asked her to return the gift. However, Sauer, now the human services and career preparation teacher, has worn a wedding ring for 45 years, a ring given to her years later by that same boy. At the wedding, she wore the pearl pendant he gave her all those Christmases ago.

“It was Dec. 22, 1969,” Sauer said. “It just worked out that Jerry would be coming from overseas and I would be finishing another quarter of school. We had a Christmas wedding–not necessarily the ideal time to get married, very busy, but it was a pretty wedding.”

The couple grew up in Fort Morgan and went to school events together when Sauer was in middle school.

“My family lived way out in the country,” Sauer said. “Sometimes, he would ask me to go to a school function or the senior class play or something like that. So my father would bring me to the school, into town, and he would meet me and we’d go to the play or whatever. Then my dad would pick me up afterwards. It was really kind of complicated, but I was very young.”

They started dating officially during her senior year. After she graduated, Jerry joined the army and she went to college.

“That was really the only kind of life we knew for a long time–school and army,” Sauer said. “Then we were married in December 1969. I had about two and a half years of school behind me and then I went with him to the next duty station. I was out of school for about a year. When we returned to Colorado where we had grown up, he went back overseas, and I went back to school to finish.”

After graduating with a teaching degree, Marilyn started teaching while traveling with Jerry from duty post to duty post.

“We got to go some places and do some things we wouldn’t have at that stage in our lives,” Marilyn said. “We’ve lived in Germany a couple of times. He was stationed four different times at Fort Hood in the Killeen area. That’s not how it always turns out but we think we were fortunate in being able to do that. We made friends and made connections. I was involved with one school district in particular for a very long time and actually taught in Killeen a couple of years.”

Fifteen years ago, Jerry was offered a position in the Panhandle after serving in the Army for 22 years.

“He has been retired longer than he served now,” Sauer said. “He was offered a position in Amarillo, sort of sight unseen. He really was not looking for something but there was something offered to him that brought us to the Panhandle.”

The couple has lived in the Panhandle since then and plan to celebrate many more anniversaries.

“They say that when you love someone, whether it’s in a marriage or otherwise, you’re more concerned about their welfare than your own,” she said. “I guess that’s what it boils down to. I don’t consciously think about that all the time but I think it does play into it. I also think it’s important to have a home that is God-centered. It doesn’t make all problems go away, but it certainly helps you to make some better choices than you might have otherwise.”

Sauer said 45 years was really a landmark and a milestone for them.

“It’s been a good life,” she said. “I think he would say that, too. No life or marriage is perfect but I think it’s been good for both of us. Everyone experiences rough spots but I think the marriage has been good for us. I look forward to many more years with him.”