Saturday 3 April 2010

Doesn't Time Fly When Your'e Enjoying Yourself.

Once upon a time there were two handsome children. At least their parents thought so! Though not of royal blood, far from it, they were indeed blessed. And if times were sometimes hard, neither particularly noticed, for children are oblivious to such trivialities. Plus life is for living and as Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) suggested, 'You have but a few years to be young and handsome in the eyes of the world.'
Being different of age, both heeded George Bernard Shaw's (1856-1950) words, 'It is a woman's business to get married as soon as possible, and a man's to keep unmarried as long as he can.'

But eventually the inevitable happened. Poor but still handsome the couple decided to live their lives together; definitely a case of 'for richer, for poorer.' On the 4th of April 1970 'the deed was done', 'the knot was tied' at St John the Evangelist Church, Newbold, Chesterfield.
The honeymoon night was spent in Knutsford (No jokes please) and the honeymoon itself in the Lake District. The new wife crashed his beloved Mini Cooper three days into the honeymoon. (Not the last vehicle she ever crashed!) Forty years on they are still together; two children, four grandchildren, many an anxious moment but many, many more laughs.

I've no claim to be clever, but John Webster's (1580?- 1625?) words will do for me.
'And of all axioms this shall win the prize-
Tis better to be fortunate than wise.'
I was indeed fortunate the day I met Paulette. For in the words of John Ford (1586-1640) 'The joys of marriage are the heaven on earth.'

29 comments:

Sueann said...

Amen!!!
Beautiful tribute!!
Hugs
SueAnn

Mickle in NZ said...

Hearty, happy congratulations.

You looked good together "back then", and look even more marvelous together now. I hope you are celebrating well, and extending the celebrations over this Easter break.

Dumdad said...

Félicitations!

40 years and counting. Crikey.

Lovely blogpost.

Bernard said...

A very touching post Ken. So nice in this day and age to see 'young lovers' together after forty years.
Your pictures, I found fascinating.
I have a picture of me on a 'ride on horse' just like yours. I have a picture of me, holding a toy, that was given me to hold by the photographer, similar to Paulette. In 1970 there was a similar wedding, a similar photo ......... but there the similarity ends.
A take my hat off to a better man.

Von said...

Congratulations to you on the survival of a great relationship.You secrets? No doubt compromise comes in there somewhere and humour.

Admankind7 said...

Bully! Bully! Well said my Man. Hope you and the lovely lady have a great Easter holiday.

Expat mum said...

That wedding picure is gorgeous! I'm coming up on our 20th anniversary. Eek.
Congrats!

The Fairweather Blogger said...

My sincerest congratulations to you both on your 40 years together.

Lovely post.

Best wishes.

Gary

martine said...

Congratulations, never believe a word that Bernard Shaw comes out with:-)
thanks for sharing
martine

That's Not My Age said...

Hello Grumpy Old Ken and thank you for leaving a comment on my blog. You have the best blog name, ever! Lovely post & happy anniversary.

TNMA

Sniffles and Smiles said...

What a handsome couple you are and were!!! Truly! And what a wonderful love story...Yes, heaven on earth! That's a beautiful marriage and match! Congratulations! And may you have many more wonderful years together! Hugs, Janine

Robert said...

CONGRATULATIONS!

I haven't been in blogland much lately, so I've missed a lot of your wonderful posts. I hope you had a really great wedding-anniversary-cum-Easter!

Formerly known as Frau said...

Happy Anniversary! Wonderful words!

Midlife Roadtripper said...

Oh, what a sweet story. You look very happy - the photos from the beginning to the most current. Probably amazed at how quickly the time has passed. My husband and I will celebrate 33 this year. Hard to imagine.

Grumpy Old Ken said...

Slommler
Thanks for kind words.

Grumpy Old Ken said...

Mickle
Thanks for kind words. Here's to fifty years.

Grumpy Old Ken said...

Dumdad
Thanks, it seems like yesterday!

Grumpy Old Ken said...

Uncle Bernars
Thanks, we are very similar in age, 1970 and all that!

Grumpy Old Ken said...

Von
Thanks. Yes your thoughts have it covered.

Grumpy Old Ken said...

Admankind
Thanks. Here's to the next celebration!

Grumpy Old Ken said...

Expat Mum
Thanks. I've seen 20 years written as both Platinum and China.

Grumpy Old Ken said...

Fairweather Blogger
Thanks. Nice to see you about again.

Grumpy Old Ken said...

martine
Thanks. Highly amused at your comments re G B Shaw!

Grumpy Old Ken said...

That's Not My Age
Thanks for the visit and comments!

Grumpy Old Ken said...

Sniffles and Smiles
Thanks for kind comments. You are definitely a romantic, not a bad thing!

Grumpy Old Ken said...

Robert
Thanks for your kind words, as of always.

Grumpy Old Ken said...

frau
Thanks for the visit and kind words.

Grumpy Old Ken said...

Midlife Jobhunter. Thanks for kind words. Evidently the 33rd aniversary is associated with the Amethyst.

rhymeswithplague said...

A belated "happy anniversary" to you both! It couldn't have happened to a nicer couple.