Chris and Barb Childers.ALTON - Chris and Barb Childers of Alton say they start and end each day with the same routine: a kiss and the words “I love you,” a practice they describe as key to staying close in their marriage.

The couple, who met Aug. 14, 1979, and married on Oct. 27, 2013, were high school sweethearts who later found each other again, Barb Childers said.

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“We tell each other 'I Love You' every day and a kiss in the a.m. and a kiss good night,” Barb Childers said. “He is my everything!”

The couple said the morning and evening “I love you” remarks and kisses are among “the keys to closeness and maintaining a successful relationship and marriage.”

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