Dance partners with combined age of 193 become worlds oldest newlyweds

A dancing couple with a combined age of 193 have tied the knot - and become the world's oldest ever newlyweds.

Forrest Lunsway, 100, married Rose Pollard, 93, after he finally popped the question following a 28-year courtship, the British Daily Mail reported in its Internet edition Sunday.

The loved-up couple, who are both keen ballroom dancers, met on the dance floor of a community center in 1983.

They became dance partners but love blossomed and now 30 years after meeting they have finally wed - on Forrest's 100th birthday.

Rose and Forrest, of Dana Point, California, wed at a combined age of 193 - making them the oldest newly-weds on record.

The wedding means the couple become the world's oldest ever newlyweds, beating an English couple from Barnsley by 10 years.

Rose said she initially told him she'd never marry him but she finally succumbed when he popped the question last year.

She said: ‘I told him up front I had no intention of getting married. But then one day he asked me “how come we never got married?” and I said “because you never asked me”.

‘'So he got down on one knee and said “Well I’m asking you now, just set the date.” I told him “I’ll marry you on your 100th birthday”. And I did.’

Forrest added: ‘She never thought I'd ask her and I never thought she'd say yes, but here we are.

"We've got many happy years left as I intend to stick around until I'm at least 110. You've got to use it or lose it."

The couple first met at a seniors' dance event on Dec. 18, 1983, but at the time were living 50 miles apart.

Rose said: ‘They call it “geographically inappropriate,” or something. He lived miles away. I didn't think it would last.

"But we would meet halfway and go on dates. Sometimes, he would drive to pick me up for a night out and then drive home.

"If someone will do that, you know that's something. You know it's true love."

The couple married at the Dana Point Community Center on March 19 in front of the couple's friends and family.

The wedding was a total surprise for all the guests - who thought they had been invited to Forrest's birthday party.

Pastor Sam Lewis, who officiated the ceremony, said: ‘I’ve done a lot of crazy weddings, but this is awesome. The theme of the wedding was “you’re not done living until you’re dead.”

Forrest was born in Indiana and raised in Kansas before he moved to California when he was 14 years old and later worked as a ditch digger.

The happy couple, who have both been married before, spent their wedding night at a local hotel with champagne and strawberries in their room after leaving the wedding in a limo.

They have now beaten the previous record for oldest newlyweds held by Harry Corton and Edna Holford from Barnsley, England, who wed with a combined age of 183.

A spokesman for The Guinness Book of World Records said they had been informed of Forrest and Rose's wedding and are set to verify it as a world record.

둘이 합쳐 193세, 세계 최고령 신혼부부 탄생

세계에서 ‘가장 나이든’ 신혼부부가 탄생했다.

영국 일간 데일리메일은 올해 100세인 포리스트 런스웨이(Forrest Lunsway)와 93세인 로즈 폴라드(Rose Pollard)가 미국 캘리포니아주 다나포인트의 한 주민센터에서 결혼식을 올렸다고 27일 보도했다.

이 신문에 따르면 두 사람은 1983년 지역회관 내 댄스모임에서 만나게 됐다. 두 사람은 댄스모임의 파트너로 배정돼 서로에 대한 사랑을 키워왔다고 한다.

30년 동안 키워온 사랑은 런스웨이씨의 구애로 결실을 맺었다. 런스웨이씨는 “당신과 결혼하지 않겠다”던 폴라드씨 앞에 무릎을 꿇고 “내 100세 생일에 결혼해달라”고 요청해 허락을 얻어냈다.

이들이 신혼부부로 맺어지기까지는 많은 역경이 있었다. 나이도 문제였지만 서로 사는 곳이 50마일(약 80km)이나 떨어져 있었다. 폴라드씨는 “50마일이나 떨어져 살았기 때문에 우리 관계가 오래 유지되리라 생각지 않았다”고 말했다. 둘 사이의 지리적 거리는 런스웨이씨의 노력으로 극복됐다. 그는 거의 매번 폴라드씨를 집까지 바래다주고 자기 집으로 돌아가는 정성을 보였다고 한다.

“누군가 당신에게 그렇게 해준다면 그건 진짜 사랑이에요.”

둘의 결혼식은 지난 3월19일 하객들의 놀라움 속에 진행됐다. 두 사람은 이번이 모두 재혼이다. 결혼식장을 찾은 패스터 루이스(Pastor Lewis)씨는 “온갖 결혼식을 봤지만 이번이 최고였다”며 “죽을 때까지 우리 인생이 끝난 게 아니라는 걸 보여줬다”고 말했다.

이전까지 최고령 신혼부부는 영국의 해리 코튼(Harry Corton)씨와 에드나 홀포드(Edna Holford)씨였다고 한다. 기네스북 대변인은 이날 런스웨이씨 부부를 가장 나이든 신혼부부로 공식 인정했다.