THE SECRET to a long and happy marriage has been revealed as a Droitwich couple celebrated their platinum anniversary.
Cicely and Arnold Garbett, aged 92 and 96, are residents of Westmead Care Home in Droitwich and have been together an impressive 70 years.
The couple met at a dance in Cannock, where the pair lived for most of their life, with Arnold quipping to his best friend that Cicely ‘was the girl he was going to marry’ as soon as he saw her.
It was love at first sight for Arnold and the couple married on January 1, 1955 before honeymooning in London. The pair have enjoyed many holidays together since.
On Wednesday (January 1) they celebrated the milestone with family as their son and daughter, Stephen and Helen, visited the home to enjoy tea, cake and a look at the anniversary card from King Charles.
The card will be framed and accompanied by another from the late Queen Elizabeth II which marks their 60th wedding anniversary in 2015.
Cicely told the Standard: “We’ve had a lovely life together and a lovely family, we’ve all done well.
“The key to a happy marriage is making your husband think he’s right, even if you put the idea in his head in the first place.”
After tying the knot, Arnold built the couple their first home where they raised their children, who are four and half years apart. Helen is the older of the two.
Helen told the Standard: “It was a house full of music and we were very close as a family.”
Arnold was a violinist who played in the Walsall Senior Citizens’ Orchestra among other bands until he was 88.
The family’s love of music lived on with Arnold learning to build instruments such as violins and cellos in retirement after years working as a miner and a carpenter.
Music runs in the family with the couple’s granddaughter, Helen’s child, being an award winning recording artist in Wales and regularly appearing on Welsh television.
In her own retirement, Cicely developed an artistic streak and learnt to arrange flowers and make beautiful cakes in her spare time.
Cicely and Arnold, who loved to travel throughout their life, became residents of the home recently, with Arnold living with dementia and moving in last August.
Cicely quickly followed her husband into the home after falling ill and spending time in hospital, with the pair wanting to remain close.
Cicely spoke of her love for her husband who miraculously still remembers his wife and kisses her on the head every day despite his condition. She added: “Who’d think we’d make it 70 years.
“Arnold means everything to me, I’m proud of him and our family.”
