The first step into a first-floor hallway yesterday afternoon at the Sticht Center at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center told the story. Somebody was throwing one heck of a party.
Streamers, ribbons and balloons adorned the walls. Photo albums and refreshments were spread across tables covered with linen.
The occasion was the 70th wedding anniversary of Jack "Papa Jack" Spainhour and his wife, Barbara. Nurses and staff members had thrown a little surprise party Tuesday -- the actual day of the anniversary -- and many of the Spainhours' six children, 14 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren returned yesterday for a family get-together to mark the occasion.
"They sit on the screened-in porch, holding hands and kissing," said Diane Moore, one of the Spainhours' four daughters. "I can hear him tell mama ‘Please don't ever leave me.'"
The secret to a long marriage, Spainhour said softly, is there for anybody to learn.
"Love each other unconditionally," he said, "and you'll make it."
Less obvious than the streamers -- but more precious to the happy couple -- was a small basket with two peaches tucked inside. It's a piece of family lore that never fails to bring a smile at every retelling.
Jack and Barbara Spainhour were sweethearts at Lenoir High School in the 1930s. They were dating for the year that Jack spent studying accounting at Davidson College -- he had to return to Caldwell County to work after the death of his grandfather, the man who had raised him -- and through the time after he resumed his studies at Roanoke College.
One day during the drive back-and-forth to see his sweetie, Spainhour decided that he and Barbara ought to get married. There was but one problem: Barbara's mother didn't want that to happen. Barbara had been invited to a second callback to dance with the Radio City Rockettes in New York, and her mother didn't want her to miss that opportunity.
He was 22, and she was 21.
The couple's solution was to elope. They told Barbara's mother they were going to the store to get her a can of peaches. Instead, they went and got married.
"Her mother said, ‘Where are the peaches?'" said Annah Matthews, one of the grandchildren. "They'd completely forgotten, and so they had to confess. We like to say that the Rockettes wouldn't have lasted 70 years but they sure did."
The couple's story after that rocky beginning was fairly typical for the day. They had a son, Jack Jr., before Spainhour joined the Navy during World War II.
After nearly 2½ years away from home, he returned to Caldwell County to start raising his family. He'd finished school and settled into a life as an accountant working in the furniture industry.
Though Spainhour is suffering from bone cancer, he is looking forward to leaving the hospital this week to move closer to home in Lenoir. Barbara lives there with Moore, her daughter, and the Spainhours will be able to be together every day.
"Our goal is for them to be at home together, no matter what," Moore said.
ssexton@wsjournal.com | 727-7481
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