Meet Barbara and Mark from New Hampshire

They are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary! They met when Mark was in the Air Force and stationed at Pease Air Force Base. Barbara grew up in Hampton, New Hampshire where the base is located. She was a school teacher and was invited to go to a social outing where there was food, drinks, dancing, and some of the Air Force. (sounds a little like Top Gun, doesn’t it?) Mark saw her and asked her dance. They danced, laughed, and enjoyed a beautiful evening together. Right then and there, is where history began to unfold for this beautiful couple. She wrote her name and number on his cigarette box thinking that he would eventually throw it away and she would be off the hook, but he didn’t. Fifty years later, they still have the cigarette box with her number written on it! Eleven days after meeting, Mark proposed to Barbara and then was deployed to South Korea for 13 months. This gave her plenty of time to plan a wedding, design, and sew her own wedding gown. Barbara’s mother’s wedding gown was also handmade. It was made out of a World War II parachute. Her father was in the Navy and her mother was in the army. Her mother was an officer her father was just enlisted. These two are familiar with sacrifices for family and to make things work through thick and thin. Their pearl of wisdom is that “you have to work hard for what you want to have in life.” Thank you so very much for sharing your beautiful story with us, Mark & Barbara. Wishing you many more wonderful years of good health & happiness together. Happy Anniversary and congratulations on reaching such an incredible milestone!