Charles, 92, and Joyce Hulings, 91, celebrate 70 years of marriage at their residence in Medford last Wednesday.

Seven full decades after sweet-talking a 19-year-old girl into cooking him a steak dinner, Medford resident Charles Hulings figures he chose the right one.

His parents were out of town that afternoon in 1952. He and his best friend were planning to watch a boxing match on a tiny black-and-white television set at Hulings’ parents’ house in West Slope, near Beaverton. And he figured they might get hungry.

Seventy-plus years later, he never imagined a well-made steak dinner would mark the start of the rest of his life.

Joyce Severson (now Hulings) thought the 21-year-old co-worker — they both worked at Montgomery Wards — was cute. She figured he was teasing when he asked her to cook him a meal — until he knocked on her door that day to pick her up.

The couple had met a year before, but both were engaged — her to a sailor and he to a woman he met while serving in the Oregon Air National Guard during the Korean War.

She came back from a visit to Minnesota without a ring on her finger, so he decided to “see if she was a good cook.”

After the boxing match, he wanted to offer his thanks.

“I thought the least I could do was take her to a movie,” he said.

“I don’t remember the name of the movie. I don’t even remember the name of the theater. But I remember I thought I liked her.”

Four children and plenty of adventures later, the couple marked their platinum anniversary with cake, balloons, a pug named Pumpkin and sharing of more than 70 years’ worth of stories.

Statistically, they’re an anomaly. According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics, only 6% of married couples reach their 50th anniversary. Only 0.1% reach 70 years.

Married Dec. 27, 1953 — on Joyce Huling’s birthday — the seven decades between 1953 and this past week have been packed with laughter, tears and plenty of ups and downs.

After their days in the now-defunct department store, Charles — now 92 and known to family and friends as “Chucker” — used his degree in public health and physical education, working a range of jobs from directing recreational programs at various YMCA facilities and municipal parks and recreation departments to coaching swim teams.

Not one to sit at home, Joyce, who turned 91 Wednesday, made her way from working for a wholesale housewares company early in the couple’s marriage to spending decades, from 1989-2018, in Asante’s business office.

“We came down here for my job. They had a salesman down in Southern Oregon that pinched one too many fannies,” Joyce recalled.

“I was the one who trained the salesmen on the showroom floor … so they asked if I could come down here and take care of things.”

Once in the Rogue Valley, the couple set up house near Ross Lane and McAndrews Road. Charles Hulings took on a wholesale gig for an automotive company and the couple — who had four children by that time — worked their sales routes together. In addition to the automotive sales gig, Charles signed on to coach the Southern Oregon Women’s Swim Team.

“We won the Pacific North Championship that year,” he noted.

After a short stint with Payless Drugs in downtown Medford, Joyce Hulings spent her final working years at Asante, retiring at 85, while Charles spent 16 years with the Postal Service, delivering mail carrier to rural communities in Eagle Point, Shady Cove, Prospect and Union Creek.

Before and after retirement, the couple were avid campers — every weekend, all summer — and active members in the Elk’s, Moose and Lions clubs. Daughter Jan Enloe said her parents’ tenacity and approach to life, and to each other, was inspiring.

“My dad was a big adventurer, and my mom was a good sport,” said the daughter.

“I remember camping and fishing and just always having fun. Dad taught us to love the outdoors, including being good stewards of the Earth,” she said.

“We grew up swimming in every lake. We learned to snorkel. Mom and dad lived life with us, and they were never of afraid of trying new things. They just really embraced life.”

All told, they count four kids, seven grandkids and 14 great-grandkids, who refer to them as “Grammy Great” and “Papa Great.”

Joyce Hulings teases the man who lured her into a kitchen so long ago.

“He’s lucky to still be alive — ‘cause he’s ornery,” she said, offering him a smooch.

“I haven’t killed him yet. I would miss him.”

After the combined birthday-anniversary party Wednesday, the couple spent an evening at Omar’s restaurant in Ashland, reminiscing about the way that it all began and enjoying their umpteenth steak dinner.

The lucky guy smiles when asked the secret to a long and happy marriage.

On matters of life and love, he said, “Just keep going.”

“I think it’s easy. You have to get down to what is the bottom line of things? You have to get all this other stuff out of the way and ask yourself, ‘Do you love this person or don’t you?’” he said.

“People say they love someone, but really, ‘Do you love this person or don’t you?’ If you say that to yourself, and if you love somebody, you stay with them through thick and thin.”