In 1974, Joe and Helen Hesketh's rocky marriage was saved because of a weekend marriage retreat. The special skill they learned that weekend has been used every day since.

The 81-year-old Seattle couple has been writing love letters to each other every day for 40 years.

For those of you doing the math in your head, that's more than 29,000 letters between the two of them.

"(The letters) are one page in a notebook and always start with a prayer of some sort," Joe said. "Then I look to tell Helen something special I noticed about her today and she does the same."

The first letters were written Feb. 22-24,1974 at a marriage retreat.

"When we write, he can't interrupt me," Helen said. "When it's written you can't erase it. How I'm feeling and everything I'm thinking about, it's right there."

The couple will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary in June.

"Marriage is a lifelong process," Joe said. "We're still working on it."

Keep Reading

Sure it's only mid-July, but Escape the Netherworld is hosting five themed escape rooms, including one called Haunted that challenges players to defeat the Night Hag. (Courtesy of Escape the Netherworld)

Credit: Courtesy of Escape the Netherworld

Featured

“Our members cannot be bought off,” General President Sean O’Brien said in a social media statement, calling UPS' offers “illegal and haphazard.” (Hyosub Shin/AJC 2023)

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC