In a beautiful twist of fate,former sweethearts whose engagement was
destroyed by an untimely foreign Army posting have finally tied the knot
after meeting and rekindling their love - 52 years later.
John Thorndike was 20 when he met and fell in love with pretty fellow shoe factory worker Patricia Payne, 19, in their hometown of Maryport, Cumbria.
They were soon engaged by the time John decided to switch careers - and joined the Army in 1963.
But when posted to Gambia, in Africa, for a year, he had no way of phoning or sending post and the pair struggled to maintain their relationship.
They soon drifted apart, and both later met other partners, married and had children, while still wondering about what happened to each other.
Now 52 years later, the couple have settled back in Cumbria and finally married - after fate led John to bump into Pat's daughter Julie completely by chance at a 70th bash.
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Last Saturday John, 72, and Pat, 71, tied the knot at St Mark's
Methodist Church in Maryport, watched by about 30 family and friends.
Pat said it felt "brilliant" to finally marry the man she met as a young woman when they worked together at the factory."It is a dream come true."
When John was posted abroad, Pat eventually married a local lad and started a family in Wigton.
Pat had two children - two daughters - through her marriage, although in recent years she became single again and started to wonder about John.
John Thorndike was 20 when he met and fell in love with pretty fellow shoe factory worker Patricia Payne, 19, in their hometown of Maryport, Cumbria.
They were soon engaged by the time John decided to switch careers - and joined the Army in 1963.
But when posted to Gambia, in Africa, for a year, he had no way of phoning or sending post and the pair struggled to maintain their relationship.
They soon drifted apart, and both later met other partners, married and had children, while still wondering about what happened to each other.
Now 52 years later, the couple have settled back in Cumbria and finally married - after fate led John to bump into Pat's daughter Julie completely by chance at a 70th bash.
Pat said it felt "brilliant" to finally marry the man she met as a young woman when they worked together at the factory."It is a dream come true."
When John was posted abroad, Pat eventually married a local lad and started a family in Wigton.
Pat had two children - two daughters - through her marriage, although in recent years she became single again and started to wonder about John.
She said: "I always thought about him. I loved him all the time. I was heartbroken when he left all those years ago."John said:
"She loved her husband, I loved my wife but it's fate, it had to be. I could have been away. It's a hundred million to one chance that Julie came to my 70th.
"If I hadn't spoken to her, I wouldn't have been here now getting."
And John added: "We have a lot of time to make up together."
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