Eric Marcoux and Eugene Woodworth will celebrate 60 years together on June 13.

In its latest “Northwest Love Stories” series, The Oregonian profiles Marcoux and Woodworth to learn their secrets to a healthy and happy partnership.

“There was nothing else for me to do other than spend my life with (Marcoux),” says Woodworth. “From that very instant that we met. That was it.”

Eugene Woodworth (left) and Eric Marcoux
Photo by Ross William Hamilton, The Oregonian

On advice for new couples today, Woodworth offers:

“The main thing that I come back to is commitment. You have to decide from the very beginning whether it’s going to be a committed relationship for a long period or if it’s just going to be as long as it lasts. Which is what most people do. They fall in love with lust instead of love. And they think that when the sex starts getting bad, that’s the end of the relationship. That’s the beginning of the relationship! That’s when you start working on it.”

The couple met in Chicago in 1953. Woodworth was a ballet dancer, and Marcoux was just leaving a Trappist monastery.

The profile and interview is here →