"Love lasts for a day or forever.” The second part of these words of the song by Simone Simon fits Berthe and Marcel Brouard well. The couple from Eure-et-Loir were married 82 years ago.
Clearly, their love story has lasted. It makes them the couple with the longest marriage in France.
Speaking to the weekly newspaper L'Action l'Écho, the couple, who celebrated their garnet wedding anniversary, told their beautiful story. They discovered each other for the first time one evening at a ball, but it wasn’t until Marcel had a bicycle accident that providence brought them definitively together: They met again at the doctor’s office where Berthe worked.
A few months later, on November 26, 1938, Berthe’s 18th birthday, it was raining when the two young people said "I do." What started with all the force of passion has, over the years, revealed a love built on rock. The couple settled initially in St. Eliph, the same town where they were married.
During their 82 years of marriage, Marcel and Berthe were separated (against their will) for 5 years. Shortly after they exchanged rings, the Second World War broke out. Marcel was mobilized while the couple was expecting their first child. The father was taken prisoner and didn’t return from Germany until the end of the war.
After this difficult time, the couple lived a simple life of true love. The centenarians, parents of four children, are now happy grandparents and great-grandparents.
The secret of their happiness? "We always got along well," they told the weekly newspaper. The quality of their relationship has been proven through the difficulties of life and across the decades.
