Ron Howard celebrates 50th anniversary of first date with his wife Cheryl of 45 years

Do couples celebrate the anniversary of their first date or other significant dates in their relationship or just the day they got married?

Well, Ron and Cheryl Howard recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of their first date, and who wouldn’t?! Fifty years since you met the love of your life, now that’s something to celebrate!

The award-winning actor, director, and producer shared on Instagram what he and his wife did to celebrate the momentous occasion, and it might be a bit surprising to hear how low-key it was.

“Today we are celebrating with these kind of socks we ordered (Cheryl’s w/my mug got held up) and a trip to our local take-out pizza place,” he wrote.

“We’ll be driving in the same ‘70 VW Bug I picked Cheryl up in 5 decades ago.”

Fifty years earlier, on November 1, 1970, the two went to a re-release of Stanley Kramer’s It’s a Mad Mad Mad World and then got some pizza at a restaurant that sadly no longer exists.

The two met when Cheryl was a junior at John Burroughs High School in Burbank, California.

“I met her, and there was never anybody else,” he told PEOPLE in 2019.

They married on June 7, 1975 and the two have been by each other’s side ever since. Ron and Cheryl have four children together – daughters Bryce Dallas Howard, 39, twins Jocelyn Carlyle and Paige Howard, 35, and son Reed Cross, 33.

How have the couple survived five decades together?

“There’s no technique. There’s no tactic other than communication is really important. You have to learn to communicate and have difficult conversations in constructive ways,” he said.

“She’s unbelievably supportive and always has been,” Howard said. “Our compatibility has endured through all kinds of experiences.”

Congratulations to the beautiful couple! May you celebrate many, many more anniversaries!

Share this to wish Ron and Cheryl a happy anniversary.