A couple from Ecuador has made it to the Guinness Book of World records for having been married the longest. The centenarian couple became the oldest couple in the world and have been together for 80 years.
Julio Mora had married his lady love Waldramina Quinteros, after leaving his parents who had disapproved of their marriage in 1940. While he was born in 1910, she was born on October 16, 1915. They married on February 7, 1941, in the first church built by the Spanish in Quito: La Iglesia de El Belen. The most surprising part of this couple is the fact that both of them are in good health and sane. They have four surviving children, 11 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren and a great-great-grandchild.
They credit their long-lasting relationship to the love and respect that they have held towards each other since their very first meeting. Asked what makes a long-lasting union, the couple said: ‘Family unity under the rules of love, mutual respect, honest work, and proper education based on family values are the keys to healthy coexistence.’
Guinness World Records recognised the feat in mid-August. Their marriage is not the longest ever recorded – that milestone belongs to Herbert Fisher and his wife Zelmyra who were married for 86 years and 290 days until Herbert’s death in 2011.