Photo: Courtesy of the Graff Family

Paula Davis, RN, met Charles Graff, MD, in 1963 at the U.S. Army hospital in Fort Dix, New Jersey. Nurses have been dating doctors since the dawn of time, but for a while this match seemed like it might not get off the ground—Charles was on the verge of moving to California to finish his residency, and Paula had been warned by the other nurses that he was a notorious playboy. But when he phoned to ask her out, he addressed her as Miss Davis, and she realized something that pleased her: He was nervous. Paula found Charles funny and sweet; he thought she was smart and liked her legs. Neither entered into the relationship lightly, not least because Charles was white and Jewish and Paula was black and Christian. But their differences didn't stop them, and neither has anything else: Last year the Graffs celebrated their 45th anniversary.

The timeline of the highs—and lows—of their life together