Shoot Cupid's Arrow into the air and it surely will land in the heart of the relationship between Heather and Greg McMackin.

They are best friends with matching wedding rings.

"She's the only woman I've ever loved," said Greg, the University of Hawai'i football team's head coach. "No doubt about that."

Theirs is truly a Love Story.

Sweethearts since high school, when he was a senior and she was a sophomore, they have never had an argument.

"It's because we have mutual respect for each other, and, of course, love," Heather said.

Officially, their honeymoon was two days, but their life together has remained honeymoon sweet for four decades. Even through a coach's on-the-move career that has taken the McMackins to the four corners of the United States.

"There have been jobs that were better professionally," Greg said. "Every decision, we make together. She's the best coach's wife. There's a lot of pressure to win and be successful. I remember Heather's mom, 14 years after we were married, wondering if I was going to get a real job. They don't understand. Heather knows how tough it is."

The McMackins indeed know about overcoming tough times.

They were raised in Springfield, Ore., a mill town across the river from Eugene.

"It's the tough town in that area," Greg said. "You usually have something to do with green chains and lumber and hard work. It's a hard-working, family town where people have a lot of respect for each other."

There was no such thing as a weekly allowance.

"If we wanted to participate in after-school activities, we had to earn the money," Heather said.

Heather, like most kids in the area, worked in the green-bean fields during the summer. She would ride her bike there early, then pick furiously until about noon.

The beans would be put into big sacks, then taken to the end of the road, where they would be weighed. Each worker would receive a ticket that could be redeemed for cash. The goal was 300 pounds. At five cents a pound, that helped pay for activities and clothes.

"The big goal was to have enough clothes to not repeat an outfit during the week," Heather recalled. "It was easy to keep your room clean because we didn't have many things."

Greg also worked when he wasn't playing sports. He inherited the relentless gene from his father, who worked two jobs.

When Greg was in the seventh grade, his father lost two fingers in a mill accident. His recovery was during the holiday season.

"We had a walnut tree out in the back yard," Greg said. "To have Christmas, we cracked the walnuts that were in our back yard, and took them to a walnut factory. We sold them for money to go get presents for the family. It was always creative."

The McMackins' introduction also was unique.

The seating chart in math class was in alphabetical order. Heather Forge was in the front row. Some of Greg's football teammate were in the back.

"I was a quintessentially, painfully shy person," Heather recalled. "He was Mr. Everything."

His football friends, knowing of his attraction to Heather, passed her notes with pictures of Greg in his football uniform.

"I was humiliated," she said. "I thought all of the cool guys were making fun of me."

As it turned out, she said, "that's what opened the door."

When Greg found out, he approached her, offering an apology.

He then asked her out.

"We started dating February of my sophomore year," Heather said. "I never dated anyone else."

The relationship endured even when Greg attended Southern Oregon College, which was a 2›-hour drive from Springfield.

"I was 16 when he went away to college," Heather said.

Long-distance phone calls were expensive.

"It's not like today, when you could text each other," she said. "We sacrificed and earned the right to be together."

The original plan called for the McMackins to marry after his college graduation.

"But we got married the spring term of my senior year of college," Greg said. "We've been together all of our life, and sort of raised each other."

Their honeymoon was in a hotel en route to Medford, Ore., where he had his first teaching job.

"A hotel was a big deal to us in those days," he said. "That was living. There was a swimming pool."

Heather said: "We couldn't wait to get to our first home."

It was a one-bedroom, fully furnished apartment. The rent was $100 a month.

Greg's next job led to a move into an apartment in a complex known as Silver Bell Foothill Estates. It was quite different from the Medford apartment.

"You don't have to worry about crime," a neighbor told them. "Your neighbors go to the good side of town."

And that became their life, achieving football success and then moving to a better coaching opportunity. Often the pay was not synchronized to his coaching ascent.

When Greg went from the Naval Academy to the University of Miami, he incurred a $40,000 pay cut. But the Miami job established Greg as one of the country's best defensive coordinators, leading to a job with the Seattle Seahawks.

Throughout his career, the McMackins remain committed to their family. Their daughter, Shannon, and grandchildren, Kayla and Taylor, have moved to Hawai'i.

"We've always traveled like the Mack Pack," Greg said. "I've always tried to be there for my daughter and my grandkids. My family is the most important thing in both of our lives. That's why we're all here, because of how our family feels."

It has been hectic since Greg was named as June Jones' successor in January. Shannon arrived in town last week. She still owns a cell-phone store in Lubbock, Texas. Taylor and Kayla are enrolled in schools in Hawai'i.

Heather, who successfully hosted a football clinic for women last week, hopes to resume her volunteer work. She helped coordinate a program aimed at vision testing for children. Many serious vision problems are correctable if detected before the age of 6.

For now, the McMackins are enjoying living in a place that now feels like home.

"Coming from Oregon, true Oregonians are very similar to the people of Hawai'i," Greg said. "Families are really important to them. They're brought up with respect, God, and they're hard-working people, family people. That's why I like it so much here. Honestly, to be here is a blessing. Heather and I have worked hard, and we're fortunate to live in the greatest place."