Britain’s longest married couple have celebrated their 81st wedding anniversary after friends warned that they wouldn’t last long.
Ron and Joyce Bond, aged 102 and 100, said a bit of give and take was the secret of a long-lasting marriage.
The couple have seen 15 different Prime Ministers take power since they were wed in 1941 after a love at first sight meeting.
Ron and Joyce Bond, from Milton Keynes, Bucks, have claimed the title of Britain’s longest married couple after celebrating their anniversary on January 4.
A couple previously believed to be the record holders, Ron and Beryl Golightly from Yorkshire, were married for 80 years before Ron sadly died aged 101 in December.
Joyce, a retired Woolworths worker, said that they never expected to reach 81 years of marriage and they know they are extremely fortunate to have reached this incredible goal and that it felt amazing and that there was no boss in their relationship, they both give and take.
The couple, who are now great-great-grandparents, married at Newport Pagnell Registry Office when Ron was 21 and Joyce was 19.
They went on to have two children called Eileen and Bill.
Ron, who served in the Second World War before working at a local garage, said that sometimes life was difficult but that they worked through it together and they looked after each other too.
When asked if it was love at first sight, both Ron and Joyce gave a unanimous yes without hesitation.
The couple celebrated their anniversary at ExtraCare’s Shenley Wood Retirement Village in Milton Keynes, where they share a flat.
They were treated to cream teas and got a shout out from Ken Bruce on Radio 2 at the request of their son Bill.
Last year the Queen sent them a signed letter for their oak anniversary, which read: “How wonderful to learn of your eightieth wedding anniversary on 4th January 2021. I do hope you enjoy this marvellous occasion.”
Many couples don’t even reach their 50th anniversary, let alone 81 and they look so good together, and this is a testament to love and it just demonstrates that love can conquer all.
This is some lovely news for a change, rather than some of the garbage that we see in the news, and it just shows the people of today that marriage can work.
And it just goes to show you that they’ve managed to endure all these years and yet Boris Johnson said that we would only last weeks if we didn’t hide at home and it just goes to show that this couple are made out of sterling stuff and had all the qualities to form a life long bond. Maybe they could teach Boris Johnson about that too.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 