Our story takes place in 1960’s Pennsylvania. Jerry Rappaport sat with his best friend, Barry, on the front steps of a row home. It was Barry’s girlfriend’s house; the boys would sit on the stoop, hanging out and making noise. Once in a while, a pretty young girl would walk down the street. Her name was Joan and she would become Jerry’s wife of more than 55 years.
“Joan lived about six houses down and I would see her go back and forth,” Jerry said. “I would always ask Barry’s girlfriend’s mother, ‘Who’s that girl? I’d like to meet that girl.’ And she kept on saying, ‘No, she’s not going to be interested in you.’”
And she wasn’t. The two crossed paths a few more times over the years, but according to Joan, Jerry’s feelings weren’t reciprocated until they were both 18-years-old. Both Joan and Jerry were out with friends when they met on the shore. Their first date was that night, walking down the boardwalk.
“Back when I was 13 or 14, I thought he was an obnoxious boy,” Joan said. “You know how girls and boys are, especially boys at that age. But, when I re-met him when I was 18, it was love at first sight.”
Jerry’s feelings didn’t change over the years. He kept her phone number in his wallet from 14 to the night they met on the beach but he said he never had the guts to call it. However, they’ve made up for the lost time–according to Joan, they’ve been together since their boardwalk date.
“I just loved him,” Joan said. “He was awful at jokes, he was a perfect gentleman. He did everything to win me over, and he did.”
Joan and Jerry married not long after their first date on the boardwalk. Jerry said every day with Joan are the happiest moments of his life. However, there are still struggles they’ve faced over their half century of marriage. When Joan was pregnant with their third child, Seth, she developed a blood disease that put both the pregnancy and herself at risk. Joan said they were able to overcome the stress of the situation by being there for each other, and thankfully both were okay.
“That was probably the most stressful moment [of my life],” Jerry said. “We went to the doctor every two weeks for blood work. We just worried and prayed together during the whole process.”
Joan and Jerry now have three sons and eight grandchildren. They spend their free time visiting their family. Two of their sons, Louis and Seth, live in Philadelphia, and the other one, Brian, lives in St. Louis. According to the couple, their family is one of their greatest sources of joy.
“[Our sons] work hard and they take good care of us,” Joan said. “We thank God that we’re a close family, and that everybody is healthy and happy.”
Jerry and Joan have been together for over 55 years. What’s the secret? According to Jerry, it’s simply to both like and love your spouse.
“You just have to like one another,” Jerry said. “It’s more important that you like one another than love one another, I think. We have to be open and listen to each other’s opinion.”
While Joan jokes about “mostly” liking her husband, she agrees with him. She said the key parts of their relationship are to love and to listen to each other. This is how they made their way from 18-year olds walking a boardwalk to grandparents traveling with their family to the shore.
“In this day and age, I think people are ready to say they don’t agree and call it quits. That never, ever came into our minds,” Joan said. “We’ve been together a long time, through good times and scary times at points. But, we love each other and we love our family and we’re so happy when we’re all together.”
