Finding Sara

I am a firm believer in taking advice. I look to people who have themselves accomplished something I would like to do myself, or who have done something I admire, and I watch and listen. This couple has reason to celebrate! I hope they make you smile too, while I am trying to get a ‘real’ post together!

Couple Celebrate 81st Anniversary

Britain’s longest married couple celebrates their 81st anniversary

By Eleanor Glover
Last updated at 11:01 AM on 26th May 2009

They credit a little arguing and a happy outlook, but whatever the secret is to a long-lasting marriage Frank and Anita Milford must be doing something right as they celebrate their 81st wedding anniversary today.

Devoted Frank Milford, 101, and wife Anita, 100, tied the knot on May 26, 1928, after meeting at a YMCA dance.

The pair already hold the record for the UK’s longest living marriage and say their secret is ‘a little argument every day’.

They are now just eight months short of breaking the overall record of Britain’s longest ever marriage of 81 years and 260 days.

For richer, for poorer: After 81 years, Frank and Anita Milford who married May 26, 1928 are Britain’s longest married couple

Frank and Anita have two children Frank, 74 and Marie, 79, as well as six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

The devoted couple are celebrating with family and friends to mark the incredible milestone at their care home in Plymouth, Devon.

Their son, Frank Jr said: ‘They are all right. They are being well looked after in the home – they are happy.

‘They spend most of their time together, with dad being almost completely deaf and blind, so it’s very difficult for him. Mum is a chatterbox and nothing has changed there.

‘My wife and I are very, very proud of them for what they have achieved.’

The couple met at a YMCA dance, in 1926, two years before their wedding at Torpoint Register Office in Cornwall.

They stayed in Plymouth throughout the Second World War and twice narrowly escaped bombing raids – including one which hit their house.

Speaking last year, retired dockyard worker Frank said: ‘We’re always here for each other. It is all about give and take on both sides.

‘You need a happy outlook and to just get on with it. I don’t know where the years have gone to. It’s marvellous really.’

They say the secret to a lasting marriage is to iron out your arguments before bedtime and share a kiss and a cuddle every night before bed.

Mrs Milford said: ‘It’s our golden rule. Couples these days don’t last long because they often don’t take enough time for each other.

‘Our advice to young couples would be to make time for a little romance every day.’

Mr Milford added: ‘To win over your sweetheart you need a dose of old-fashioned chivalry and don’t let your standards slip. We do everything together.’

On June 15, 2008, the couple entered the record books.