Alex and Yvonne....a 50 year love story

I’m a sucker for a good love story. Not anything written by pulp writers, but the real life kind you don’t see much anymore.
Yesterday, twenty one miles in the rain and hail led me to a rest area, a mere mile into eastern Colorado. I was sitting under a tiny pavilion, drying off a bit. I had the place to myself for a while and was just relaxing, sprawled out over two tables. An SUV pulled up, and an older looking couple got out and walked toward the pavilion. The woman carried a small wooden tray with coffee supplies in it.
“Do you mind if we use one of your tables?” she asked in a lovely British accent. Embarrassed that I was hogging both tables, I sheepishly moved my stuff over for her. She set her tray down and asked if Id like a cup of coffee. I politely declined, just as the gentleman arrived. There was a bit of small talk, and I discerned that he too had a British accent.
“I KNOW you aren’t from here!” I joked. The man, Alex Roberts, laughed and said that no, they weren’t. They were originally from England but they lived in Oklahoma now. I asked “How did a couple from England end up in Oklahoma?” He told me a story about how he had been in school to learn medical research. He had wanted to work in Australia or New Zealand but an offer had come to work in the “states” and he decided to go for it, and they had been here ever since. That was the ho-hum story. While his wife, Yvonne, excused herself to venture off a bit, he told me the next story. The story of how they came to be married for 50 years come September of this year.
He had left England in 1955 and was living in Uganda, Africa, then a “protectorate” of England. She was living in Nairobi, Kenya. At some point they were working in the same place, or nearby each other and fell in love. After several months of dating, they decided to get married. As Alex put it, “I stole her away from her family and now its been fifty years.” I asked him what happens after fifty years---does he have to give her back? He laughed a genuine laugh and said, “No, its too late for that now, Im afraid.” He then proceeded to tell me that at the rehearsal for their wedding the vicar had them stand in their positions as if it was the real deal, and began going over all of the lines that each would say. Alex stopped the vicar and said, “Are we doing the entire ceremony?” to which the vicar replied, “Yes, we want to make sure we don’t have any mistakes.” Alex stood firm, telling the vicar, “Listen, marriage is a sacred vow that I take very seriously, and I am only going to do it once, so I don’t need to rehearse the whole thing.
Its now been fifty years. He’s not giving her back, and they were on their way to Keystone, Colorado, where all of their children will be waiting for them. The “kids” are all professionals in the medical field now and this is the only time their schedules line up so the wedding anniversary will be just a little bit early this year. All the better, for they can savor it long after the party is over.
A happy 50th to Alex and Yvonne Roberts, passing, but lovely strangers I met in my first ten minutes in Colorado. I hope the next 50 years are as good to you as the first ones were.