panda ponders

Australia was on my mind today because some friends of my parents dropped in for a surprise visit. They live in Australia and so it was indeed a surprise ! I have seen them on their visits here several times over my lifetime, and it was good to see them for the short time I was able as I was leaving for work at the time. I found this great story in an Australian newspaper about a British couple.

The Australian: Couple’s secrets for long marriage [June 01, 2005]

A BRITISH couple recognised as having had the world’s longest marriage recorded were celebrating their 80th anniversary today, and revealed the secret to wedded bliss as never letting arguments fester.

Or, as 105-year-old Percy Arrowsmith put it more succinctly, the regular use of two words: “Yes, dear.”

Potato, patato

Mr Arrowsmith and his 100-year-old wife, Florence, were married on June 1, 1925, about the time a little-known politician, Adolf Hitler, was putting the finishing touches to Mein Kampf.

A series of newspapers featured their story today, with Mrs Arrowsmith attributing the success of their union to hard work and never going to bed with an argument unresolved.

“It has not been easy, but worth every minute because he is much more than my best friend: he is the love of my life,” she said.

At a time when divorce rates are only rising and people more and more op to live together instead of getting married, this is a great story.

It takes work, but it is possible to stay married when both people are willing.

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