To: "homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org" <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [Homestead] Don't go to bed angry
Date: Wed, 01 Jun 2005 11:22:50 -0700
U.K. Couple Marks 80th Wedding Anniversary
Wed Jun 1,10:13 AM ET
LONDON - A British husband and wife revealed the secrets of the longest
marriage of any living couple on Wednesday as they celebrated their 80th
wedding anniversary don't sleep on an argument, always share a kiss and
hold hands before going to bed.
Percy Arrowsmith, 105, and his 100-year-old wife Florence, were married on
June 1, 1925, after meeting at their local church in Hereford, western
England, where he sang in the choir and she was a Sunday school teacher.
Queen Elizabeth II sent her congratulations to the Arrowsmiths, who
celebrated their anniversary Wednesday with coffee and nibbles at home with
family and friends.
"What a splendid achievement. I send you my warm congratulations and best
wishes for your 80th wedding anniversary," the Queen wrote in a card to the
couple.
The Arrowsmiths, who have three children, six grandchildren and nine
great-grandchildren, claim the key to their long marriage is not to go to
sleep on an argument. They say they always kiss each other and hold hands
each night before going to bed.
"He can't settle down if I'm not holding his hand," Mrs. Arrowsmith was
quoted as saying last month.
The couple's daughter Jane Woolley said her parents were both "very perky."
"She (Mrs. Arrowsmith) says she can't dance any longer but it feels good to
have been married for 80 years. She says she can still have a drink,"
Woolley said.
Guinness World Records said the pair held records for the longest marriage
for a living couple and the oldest aggregate age of a married couple.