Dave and Vivian Smith aren't just a long-lasting couple -- though they did celebrate their 75th anniversary together on Friday.
The Smiths are also the beating heart of a community, making the D.C. area special and pioneering a Falls Church neighborhood.
Their World War II era romance started in a pretty typical way: Vivian, then a student at the College of Wooster in Ohio, was out with some girlfriends. The young women spent a night chatting with some young men, stationed at the college for Navy Pilot training.
"My mom with out with some girlfriends and they met," said one of the couple's two daughters. "And she was with one guy, but she was like, 'But who's THAT guy?'"
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That fella was Dave Smith, a lanky Midwesterner, who when he finished training at the college would go on to fly both prop and jet planes for the Navy.
He stayed in touch with Vivian by letter. They married in 1948.
Vivian's satin and lace wedding dress, later worn by her two daughters, was displayed -- fraying, but still beautiful -- in a tree near the folding tables in Falls Church.
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The set up in the driveway hosted a steady stream of well wishers Friday afternoon. Neighbors celebrated the Smiths as original homeowners who, in their 90s, are still the beating heart of Holmes Run Acres.
Vivian knew she wanted to make the midcentury neighborhood in Falls Church their home right away.
"She saw this neighborhood and said, 'That's it. I have to get a house in this neighborhood,'" said daughter Megan Smith. "And Dad said 'Okay!'"
But how did the couple stay together so long? A whopping 75 years that included the start and end of the Cold War, the moon landing, the dawn of the information age and a global pandemic?
"It just happens," said Dave Smith. "I mean, you're busy doing stuff, you know, all the time. And you're working and you're having children, and they're growing up. It's a very... It just... happens!"
Vivian, a writer, poet and author, noted that everyone disagrees at times. But she advises against using the silent treatment.
"Never hold a grudge," she said. "And keep talking. Even in loud voices, keep talking."
The daughters had one final surprise for their parents on their anniversary: an envelope from the White House, containing a congratulatory letter signed by President Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden.
"To the next 75 years!" Megan said, toasting her parents, while the crowd cheered.
