1977 was a good year for David Betz. A self-proclaimed car nut, Mr. Betz was thrilled when “Smokey and the Bandit” came out late that spring. But that calendar year is marked by a more significant event.

In April, Mr. Betz met up with his sister at a carnival somewhere off the Belt Highway. His sister took a friend, Nancy, along with her.

“He was a cute kid,” said a grinning Nancy Betz of her first impression of the 22-year-old man who would become her husband. “That’s all I can say.”

Nancy and David’s initial meeting, which wasn’t even billed as a blind date, led to conversation that lasted through the night. By morning, he proposed marriage. She said yes.

“It was just blowing me away every time she answered a question,” he said of their hours-long conversation. “I’d never had that encounter with anybody. And I thought to myself, ‘I just can’t let this get away.’”

Mrs. Betz said he asked her what she wanted out of life, and she asked him the same.

“It was pretty much the same thing,” said Mrs. Betz, whose maiden name is Betts.

“We had all the right answers,” he said.

Nancy worked at the Methodist Hospital Downtown, where her work mates didn’t buy her matrimonial intentions, including her boss, who initially refused to give her the day off to exchange nuptials.

Married a month after their first meeting, the newlyweds made the decision to have a baby “now” and do their courting later. And with their daughter grown and out of the house, that’s what they’re doing.

“In our later years, we’ll date then and do our thing,” Mr. Betz said of his plan. “She respected it and we’ve been doing it.”

In May, to celebrate their 32nd anniversary, the couple took their 1999 Trans Am convertible on the “Bandit Run,” which is a weeklong re-enactment of the journey taken by Jerry Reed, Burt Reynolds, Sally Field and Jackie Gleason in the “Smokey and the Bandit” movie, which came out the same month they were married.

The Betzes joined in with 57 other Trans Ams on the highways beginning in Branson, Mo., and going through Hot Springs, Ark., to Memphis and Nashville, Tenn., and ending in Braselton, Ga.

“It was just a brotherhood,” Mr. Betz said of the bond between the 100-plus participants, “It was fantastic.”

They plan to do the “Bandit Run” again next year. In the meantime, they’ll try to spend more time with their kids and grandchildren, and they’ll keep going out on dates and experiencing new things together to fulfill promises made three decades ago.

But it hasn’t all been gravy — they’ve taken their lumps, too. They’ve survived job losses, a North Dakota blizzard, a botched operation, a flood that took their home and their savings. But they’ve never declared bankruptcy, in love or life. Mrs. Betz said they’ve always come out stronger.

“The biggest thing is we have a respect for each other,” Mrs. Betz said. “We have common interests. ... We’ve always talked everything out.”

Jimmy Myers can be reached at jimmym@npgco.com.