WHEN pretty French girl Marie-Anne Crouch visited English relatives in the summer of 1956, little did she realise it would be the start of a love affair lasting half a century.
Indeed, 50 years later she is celebrating her golden wedding.
It was at a dance in Cambridge that she met RAF national serviceman John Careless.
Mr Careless, aged 72, spotted Marie-Anne and was immediately smitten.
Love soon blossomed and when Mrs Careless returned home to France just a week later they kept in touch across the miles by weekly letter-writing.
They married in Histon, Cambridgeshire, on March 28, 1959.
Over the years the couple moved around Essex, Kent and Cambridgeshire due to Mr Careless’ job as a bank manager, whilst Mrs Careless became a French teacher and tourist guide.
After retirement they settled in Worcestershire and now live in Droitwich.
Mr Careless still recalls his father’s words on first meeting his wife-to-be. “My father said, ‘you’ve got a cracker there.’ “I still agree with him!”
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