LILBURN, Ga. — They've been coming to the Lilburn Chick-fil-A almost every day since it opened in 1991 -- eating breakfast and sipping coffee at the same table.
Yesterday was different. One that restaurant operator Bryan Shepard says was "a very special day at the restaurant."
Bill and Ann Thornton were married on Oct. 24, 1954, in Cumming, Ga.
As they reminisced on Thursday with Shepard and other employees, they recalled they were married at their preachers home, surrounded by a small group of close friends and family before heading off to their honeymoon in Blairsville.
"Jokingly, they both said it had been too long and neither could remember many of the details, but one detail they both remember well was being on their way to get married and realizing that Ann had forgotten the marriage license at home," Shepard said. "They rushed back to the house, grabbed the license, but ended up being late to their own wedding."
They sat laughing together as they told their story, he said.
Bill was in the Air Force and he and Ann have one son, two grandsons, and one great-grandson.
They have shared a lot of joys together and are still going strong, Shepard said.
"We are so thankful for them, their wonderful example of enduring love, and what they have meant to our Chick-Fil-A Lilburn family over the years," he said.
Here's to many more amazing years of laughter, love ... and of course, chicken biscuits.
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