Married 51 Years: Macon & Jim McDavid
In the summer of 1956, Jim pursued Macon by offering to drive her to her job. “I thought he was so annoying!” she says. “He’d
ride alongside me in his old Ford, going 10 miles an hour and calling out the window.” She fell for him after one date and
they wed two years later. It hasn’t always been an easy ride for the Raleigh, North Carolina grandparents of four, who struggled
with poverty and the sudden death of their son, Mark. But they’ve never abandoned one another. Says Jim, “Macon and I believe,
Let’s do what’s right and good―and do it together.”
Video by Gillian Laub
Video by Gillian Laub
Their Secrets to a Happy Marriage
1“In every family, someone’s got to drive the bus. But sometimes you change positions. You say, ‘OK, this is not my thing after
all. It’s your turn to drive.’ All our marriage, Jim took care of our checkbooks. Then, three years ago, I realized I had
these wonderful math skills and could do them easier than he could,” says Macon.
2“You’ve got to be able to trust your spouse. If she passes me the ball, I try to run with it. And if I pass her the ball,
she does the same,” says Jim.
3“Jim loves to talk, so by now I’ve heard most of his stories. But they’re all good ones, so I still happily listen. And as
for me? Jim thinks I can do just about anything,” says Macon.
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