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They would’ve gotten married sooner, but their schedules were just so busy they couldn’t find the time. That’s how two California newlyweds described to ABC their simple exchange of wedding vows this Leap Day Wednesday.
But, thanks to one truly impressive novelty statistic, Allen Marks, 98, and Lillian Hartley, 95, have been getting more attention than an average couple: they’re soon to be the Guinness World Record’s newest “oldest newlyweds.” That is to say, as the Desert Sun reported, the long-time couple’s combined age of 193 years old breaks the record for oldest newly wedded couple.
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As it happens, the pair previously had no idea. “Honest to God? Oh, I can’t believe it,” Lillian told the newspaper. “Oh, I’m impressed with myself.”
For statistical oddity seekers, the previous record holder is a French couple who’s aggregate age was 190 years, 126 days. Last year, however, another California couple was said to have set the record with a 190 combined years — and got a congratulatory card from the president.
Hartley and Marks had been seeing each other for 18 years prior to making the leap. “I didn’t want a relationship — I enjoyed my freedom — but he got me,” she told the Desert Sun.
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