Loved up care home couple say 'you're never guaranteed tomorrow so make every day count'

“You are never guaranteed tomorrow so you must make every day count” – that’s the message from Peter and Alice Burton, who have celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in their care home.

Loved up couple Peter and Alice Burton live at Ashworth Grange care home in Dewsbury and are only too happy to share some advice on love and life to the younger generation.

The couple believe their long, happy married life is due to the fact they never go to bed on an argument.

Peter Burton, aged 91, said: “I have always made sure regardless of what we have fought about that we made things right before bed – you are never guaranteed tomorrow so you must make every day count”.

Peter and Alice met by chance in 1951 during a packed bus ride to work and the couple say they ‘instantly clicked’ and found they had lots in common when they chatted to each other for the whole journey into town.

Commuter love

That bus ride encounter led to them having their first date the very next day.

Mr Burton said: “Alice was so beautiful, from the moment we met I knew I would be seeing her again for a date – I wasted no time in asking her out to the pictures”.

He proposed to Alice only a few months later and they tied the knot on Alice’s 22nd birthday.

He said: “Alice is such a special lady, she is kind and caring and everything I wanted in a wife so I knew she would be the one who I proposed to when the time was right.”

The couple often talked about getting married but ultimately they had to wait until Alice was 21 to get her parents blessing.

Recalling her big day, Alice Burton, aged 87, said: “I remember waking up on my wedding day and looking out of the window and seeing it was thick with snow! It was like a winter wonderland”.

Mr Burton said: “I remember me and my uncle had to dig a pathway through the snow to the church so everybody could walk in!’.

Give a little respect

Some 65 years later, Peter and Alice celebrated their anniversary with a gathering at Ashworth Grange’s café with friends and family.

Live entertainment from a tribute Buddy Holly singer got the party going as the couple tucked into tea and cake.

Alice Burton believes the most important quality to look for in a partner is respect.

The 87-year-old said: “‘Without respect you cannot build and grow anything together – it is fundamental to a relationship”.

Ashworth Grange care home, operated by Ideal Carehomes, provides 24-hour residential and dementia care for 64 residents.

Debbie Campey, regional director at Ideal Carehomes said: “Alice and Peter have such a wonderful relationship and are a pleasure to be around. They have such a fantastic dynamic as a couple and I am always keen to hear their stories.”

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