Love looked a whole lot different back in the 1950s. Before Tinder and Instagram DMs, writing letters was the original form of romantic correspondence. This couple accidentally became penpals, and started a great love story in the process.

The year was 1957. A seaman on the HMS Ganges in Ipswich posted an advertisement in a newspaper looking for a penpal, which a then 15-year-old Shirley Kerrigan responded to. This advertisement turned out to be quite popular. The seaman received many messages, so he passed a few of them on to his fellow shipmate.

This is how Shirley’s letter ended up in the hands of 19-year-old Jack Godley. Crazily enough, Shirley lived only 5 minutes away from Jack’s family in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.

That first initial letter turned into many. A year later, the pair finally met when Jack returned home on leave. They quickly fell in love and married on April 30, 1960.

Fast forward to 2020 and the couple are now celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. Shirley, 78, and Jack, 82, have five children together, 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. All this from a simple letter.

Shirley believes their love was meant to be.

She said: “I’m glad it ended up with him. I do think it was fate. The other sailor got a sack full and he said ‘here you go Ginge’ – that’s what they called Jack in the navy. He said, ‘there’s one from Sheffield you can have that one'”.

Their secret to a long-lasting marriage? Celebrating differences.

“Well we’re opposites aren’t we, me and Shirley. Opposites attract. That’s why we have lasted,” said Jack. “Well, that and doing what I am told.”

While they can’t go out and celebrate their milestone anniversary due to the lockdown, the pair plan to have a special day when the pandemic is over and it’s safe to go outside again.

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Once again humans are showing that during times of difficulty, we can come together even in the smallest of ways. Those who have missed their wedding dates as a result of the pandemic are being creative with their backup celebrations, and this wedding DJ wanted to play his part.

Chris Bouchard, a Maine-based wedding DJ, has come up with another solution to make isolation weddings more meaningful. He has decided he will stream “Virtual Wedding Mixes” every Friday at 8pm. Couples can have their first dance, or have a dance party with their guests attending via Zoom, to the music solution that Bouchard is providing.

The Virtual Wedding Mixes will be streamed on Facebook, Twitch, Youtube, and other streaming services.

In a Facebook post, Bouchard expressed his sympathy for those who have had to cancel their wedding ceremonies. “This breaks our hearts,” he said.

“We want to provide couples from all over to join us live, every Friday, at 8pm to enjoy live wedding mixes. Dance the night away, make live requests, maybe enjoy a slow dance [or two] to some of the songs you would have had at your wedding reception in 2020,” he continued.

Bouchard noted that while – of course – nothing can replace the wedding reception, he and his team would like to provide listeners with some joy and to help them to forget about the negative impacts of coronavirus, even just for a moment.

“Every Friday night starting May 8, 2020 we will be celebrating with all of the couples that are still getting married and want to celebrate – or the couples that are putting everything off for another year and want to have a good time, too,” he said.

For professionals such as Bouchard, this time is exceptionally tough as they are losing their main, if not only, source of income. Bouchard told News Centre Maine that if things are slow to open and get pushed to August or September he could easily lose all of his income for this year.

Looking at it from this perspective, Bouchards gesture is even more meaningful.

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Couples determined to marry amid the coronavirs pandemic have been forced to get creative with their nuptials. One pair opted for a unique drive-in movie theatre as the perfect location to bring the love and encourage social distancing.

Bri and Lindsey Leaverton from Austin, Texas were meant to marry on April 10, 2020. However, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic threw a spanner in the works.

“We had everything planned down to a tee,” Lindsey told Buzzfeed News. “We were supposed to get married on 4.10.20, Good Friday, because nothing says, ‘Happy Easter’ like a good old lesbian wedding.”

Their wedding planner then came up with the idea of having the wedding at a  drive-in movie theatre, which will allow more guests and follow social distancing rules.

They settled on Doc’s Drive In Theatre in nearby Buda, Texas, which was marked as an essential service and thus allowed to remain open as they also serve food for pickup.

They tied the knot on April 28, with about 85 cars of guests in attendance. Guests stayed in their cars for the entire event. They also decorated their cars in celebration, and showed up in their pajamas as per the brides’ requests.Guests were served champagne and popcorn by theatre staff wearing gloves and face masks.

The ceremony was livestreamed on the two theatre screens, as well as on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube so that those not in attendance could still witness the big day.

Following the ceremony, musician Lindsey surprised her new wife with an original song.

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While the wedding was not was they had originally envisioned, it was still a special day they will cherish forever.

“It was above and beyond anything we could’ve dreamed of,” Lindsey told Buzzfeed News. ”I’m so glad it happened the way it did. Our whole theme has been: we’re making some really tasty lemonade out of some really rotten lemons.”

Feature image: Instagram

Weddings are changing more and more as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing. Couples are finding ways to ensure their nuptials continue. Livestreaming is a great option for couples want their guests to attend, but what about couples who still want a bridal party?

This couple from Cincinnati, Ohio, came up with the perfect solution. Autumn Wood and Christian Miller used their dogs as bridesmaids.

“Our dogs Sasha and Oreo were my stand in bridesmaids and although they were very good and didn’t bark at all, they totally stole the show!” said Wood to MetroUK.

Taking place in their back yard, the couple’s wedding incorporated everything coronavirus-wedding related. Their isolation wedding was officiated by Miller’s brother who happened to be isolating with them at their home.

A Facebook livestream kept their family and friends close while the pair tied the knot in their wedding attire and facemasks. of course, Corona beer also made an appearance on the special day.

The couple said they just couldn’t wait until the end of lockdown, so decided that this course of action would be best. While they intended to marry in May, their new date moved forward to April.

“It was perfect – it wasn’t what I planned and it didn’t go the way I had been planning for months but I wouldn’t trade it,” said Wood.

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Congrats to the happy couple!

Image: Credit: MetroUK (Autumn Wood/SWNS)

While the coronavirus pandemic has wrecked havoc in lives across the globe, it has also brought some joy. This homeless couple found love in the time of coronavirus.

Maria Cecilia Osorio and Alfonso Ardila from Colombia met at a homeless shelter in Manizales, the country’s coffee region amid their lockdown period. Osorio, 39, is a missionary, and was left without means to afford her rent as the pandemic escalated and prevented her from working. Ardila, 72, is a construction worker and lost many job opportunities as the country shut down to follow lockdown rules. He too sought refuge at the shelter after being unable to afford his rent.

The connection between the two quickly grew. “I came to this place where no one looked at me or greeted me. But here I found someone who loved me and is worried about me,” Alfonso told Reuters.

They married at the homeless shelter where they met, with two other residents acting as bridesmaids. Their fellow shelter residents helped organise the wedding.

Watch the video of their wedding here:

The pair hope to have a real honeymoon after May 11, when their country’s state of emergency is set to end. However, they are cautious, as they have no jobs to return to once they leave the shelter.

Picture: Unsplash