Jean Owen is 88 years old. Robert Thorp is 97. And on August 26, without saying a word to anyone, they traveled together from London to Gretna Green to get married, the Scottish town famous since 1754 for its quick weddings.
They had known each other for three decades, back when they were merely family friends who traveled together with their respective partners. When both were widowed, their friendship endured. During the pandemic, something changed: what had been companionship transformed into love. They chose Robert’s 97th birthday to say ‘I do’ beneath the arch of intertwined hands that crowns weddings at the venue, and they even dared to dance beneath it.
Their children had been asking them for some time when they planned to get married. They never imagined that the answer was already on its way, aboard a train bound for Scotland, kept as the best-kept secret by two people who decided that it is never too late for true love.