A couple from the 1970s who had been separated by society finally reunites and marries
This lovely tale of genuine love dates from the 1940s and recently received a joyful ending. It truly demonstrates and teaches how true love is unstoppable in the face of life’s trials and tribulations. It’s about Mark Bethel and Penny Umbers, who met in the 1940s, lost touch, then found one other again decades later and married.
At first sight, there is love
Mark and Penny attended a school in Nottingham, England, in the 1940s. They were both in their teens at the time, and they were quickly drawn to each other, falling profoundly in love and vowing to be together for the rest of their lives. Their relationship blossomed, and they were happy in each other’s company.
Mark, who was born in the Bahamas, returned home, and the two continued to correspond via love letters, keeping their love and romance alive and well. For years, they kept their relationship alive with love letters.
When they were old enough to go to college, Mark went to a college in London, and Penny went to a neighboring college. Things were looking up for the couple; they were back together. However, destiny and fate had other plans for them.
Mark unexpectedly stopped the relationship one day without giving any cause or explanation. Penny was heartbroken. Penny told the Birmingham Mail how much Mark meant to her in an interview:
“He was everything to me; he made me feel so loved, and not hearing or seeing him was unimaginable.”
Penny tried to move on with her life, hurt and confused. She attempted to enter into a relationship, but it did not work out because true love was not present. On Mark’s side, he was married twice and divorced in both of his marriages.
The truth
Mark began looking for Penny online after reaffirming his actual love for her. It was now easier for him to locate the love of his life in a world where technology existed. He tracked her down on Facebook and the two reconnected; it was then that he finally revealed the reason for his abrupt departure.
Penny’s father spoke to Mark and ordered him to back off after he informed her what happened when they were together. Penny, according to the Birmingham Mail, said:
“He had been talking to my father in the garden and I remember thinking they had so much in common because they both liked sports. But in actual fact, my father had said to him ‘you’ve had your fun, now move on boy.’ It absolutely shattered him, he was such a sweet lovely boy and he was really in love with me.”
“I didn’t realise but my father went to Mark’s university and called him out of a lecture into the vice principal’s office,”
“They had told him he should not be having a relationship with a white girl. He couldn’t have survived in London without his scholarship and he would have had to have gone back to the Bahamas with no degree and his parents saying ‘told you so’.
Mark was just beginning out in life when he was repeatedly threatened by Penny’s father, all because of his skin tone. Penny went on to say:
“My father told him he knew people in high places and would have his scholarship revoked if he didn’t stop seeing me and that I must know nothing about this,”
Mark, like Penny, was devastated by the end of their relationship. He also had to keep it all to himself, bearing the shame of your life partner not understanding why you went. He described how challenging it was for him:
“I didn’t have much power. I was 3,000 miles from home in a foreign country. I was totally dependent on my scholarship. I had to make the hardest decision of my life and I had to make it in isolation. I had no support mechanism, no friends or family, I couldn’t explain to her why I just wanted it to end. It was heartbreaking.”
When asked how he found Penny online, Mark replied:
“Thirty-nine years on, I wasn’t sure if it was her. I sent her repeated messages but she wasn’t really a Facebook user so it was a couple of months before she saw it. I just said ‘Is this Penny?’ and then it was! I felt nervous, apprehensive, happy, and giddy.”
True love will always be able to withstand the test of time
In 2021, Mark and Penny reunited in the Bahamas, finally giving each other the love they deserved.
Penny described how beautiful it felt to reunite with her long-lost love, even if it took decades:
“I’ve never loved anyone the way I love Mark,”
“I feel like a whole new person.”
“My confidence has come back. I had a defeatist attitude whereas I stand up tall now knowing he did love me after all. He used to send me love letters, poems and paintings, it was so romantic. It was so difficult to think the man I loved didn’t love me.”
An intense and joyful experience Mark expressed his delight upon seeing Penny again:
“When we saw each other for the first time, I believe I shed a tear or two,”
“I couldn’t believe she was here in my country in my arms.”
“Some things are meant to be, but in God’s time. The point we met was obviously not our time.”
When asked about their fantastic reunion, Penny said:
“I’d not seen him since we were 19 and 20 but it was amazing, it was as if we’d only been apart for a year.
“There was that feeling of reuniting but it was like we hadn’t changed one iota. It wasn’t strange or uncomfortable. He held my hand and we kissed through our masks.”
They’re in their 60s now, and they’re still madly in love! Mark and Penny’s story is incredibly inspiring — a true tribute to pure love and how to never give up! We wish the two a long and happy life together!
You should visit Birmingham Mail to read the details of their story and see a wonderful video of their adventure.
