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A couple who tied the knot in a shotgun wedding just 11 days after meeting are still happily married – 35 years later.
Military officer Douglass Elgar (53) from Washington in the US was just 21 when he met Billy (50) while visiting a friend’s girlfriend at work.
“While I was a soldier I asked for 15 days off, and it was in those 15 days that we met," Douglass said. "At the time I was just a single man enjoying my last bit of freedom before returning to my job.”
Amazingly, the pair had both planned to go on dates with other people that night.
“But as soon as I met Billy, the voice in my head told me I had to be with her.”
Billy initially turned down Douglass’ advances but he persisted and eventually she agreed to go out with him.
Following their first date both decided they were soulmates and destined for each other. Just six days later they were engaged!
They'd planned to get married six months down the line because Douglass’ army career was due to take him to New York.
But when a friend dropped out on a trip driving through Nevada back to New York, Billy took his place.
While on the road in Nevada the couple saw signs advertising instant marriages.
“We saw a sign stating that Las Vegas was the marriage capital of the world. The same voice that told me to ask her out, told me to marry her,” Douglas remembers.
The pair stopped at a petrol station, asked where the nearest place was that they could get married and were told to head to Elko, Nevada.
“We got married both wearing T-shirt and shorts after washing at a service station. It was strange because two weeks before this, we didn’t even know each other.”
Since then the lovestruck couple have stood the test of time and are now approaching their 35th wedding anniversary. They've had four children together.
“It wasn’t his dance moves that did it, but he was very charming,” Billy joked.
“I couldn’t seem to get away from him. When we left on our drive across the country the intention was to fly home after. I had no intention at that point of getting married.
“But when Douglass asked me, without missing a beat, I said yes.”
When the couple arrived in New York, Billy decided to stay there with her new hubby. They lived there for a year before moving to Aberdeen, Washington.
Since then Douglass, now a technician and clothing business owner, and Billy have enjoyed many years of wedded bliss.
The couple insist it's excellent communication that's kept them together for so long.
“We really had to learn how to rely on each other and figure things out together and that’s what keeps us together, we really talk to each other," Billy said.
“We have opposing opinions on things, we don’t always agree. But we respect each other completely.
“We have a huge amount of respect for each other. We’re not the same people we were 30 years ago, but we've always been committed to this life we're sharing together."
