Our 75th Valentine’s... and we’re as in love now as on our wedding day
JAMES and Cecelia Marsh are set to celebrate their 75th Valentine’s Day as a married couple – at age 95.
They were introduced as teenagers by Cecelia’s brother Bill, who was a friend of James’s when they lived nearby in south London in the early 1940s.
The couple married on Christmas Day 1943, with James riding his Ariel Red Hunter motorcycle back from his “Bevin Boy” job in the Welsh mines to marry his sweetheart.
They now live at Bupa’s Abbotsleigh Mews care home in Sidcup, south-east London.
Cecelia put their enduring love down to “communication” and always “working together”.
She added: “I never thought James and I would still be together after all this time. Especially after he was called up to the mines during the war – he had no option, he was going whether we liked it or not.”
Frugal
Cecelia said: “As a young man, he was very smart. Even after 75 years, he’s still the same man I married and we’re as in love today as we were on our wedding day.
“We’ve always worked together with whatever we've done. We even used to ride a tandem bicycle.”
The couple also say their large family has helped – they have three children, seven grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Cecelia explained how they lived through a more frugal era, only buying one item at a time on credit.
She added: “But that said, if we wanted to buy something, you didn't mind going out and spending money, did you James?”
James replied: “Yes, and now I’m skint,” with a twinkle in his eye – showing that despite dementia, his wit is still keen. Referring to the elebration tomorrow, including a special care home meal, Cecelia said: “We don’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day in a big way. We used to – flowers, chocolates, that kind of thing. We have created home-made cards for each other this year though, with help from the staff.”
The home has also planted a rose bush for their diamond anniversary.
Care home manager Tracey Cheeseman said they were “inspirational” – and still had a spark. “While Jim’s dementia means he receives specialist care in another wing of the home, we still make sure they spend time together,” she said.
James, whose first job was at a hardware merchants, added: “When we first met, I thought Cecelia had a lovely way about her. After we were married we were sometime short on money but we made a decent home because the kids were growing up.”