80 years married, and McDonald’s rewrote its own golden arches to celebrate them

During a recent celebration, employees at a McDonald’s outlet in Murfreesboro, Tennessee customised the restaurant’s golden arches signage to read, in all capital letters, ‘Congratulations to the Carrolls 80 years and counting.’

The tribute was for John and Jerry Carroll, a couple married for 80 years who have visited the same McDonald’s every Friday for decades, ordering the same dishes each time. ‘For breakfast, we usually eat the Egg McMuffin with sausage,’ John, a World War II veteran, told local news outlet NewsChannel5, adding that he includes tomato slices to make it ‘his special order.’

The couple celebrated their wedding anniversary in April and Jerry’s 100th birthday in June; John is 101. Christina Crisp, the outlet’s general manager, said of the couple: ‘We just love them. They’ve been here for a long time.’

The Carrolls’ grandson, also named John Carroll, posted a tribute on Facebook marking the 80th anniversary: ‘John S. Carroll and Gerald Lena “Jerry” Carroll had no idea their marriage would span eight decades — through cultural revolutions, technological transformation, and generations of family.’

Image: Wikimedia Commons/by Famartin