A doting husband, who has been married to his beloved wife for 68 years, is showing the world what enduring love looks like by bringing his wife breakfast in bed every morning.
Ian, 97, and Elaine Hart, 93, live in Tamborine Mountain in southeast Queensland, Australia. Mr. Hart started making his wife tea when he was rising at 4 a.m. to work on his beef cattle farm. Now, years later, he maintains the tradition.
“I made her a cup of tea as she didn’t have to get up that early,” Mr. Hart told The Epoch Times. “Now she’s 93 and has had a fall. I look after her by taking her cup of tea and breakfast [to her in bed] every morning.”
The Harts’s daughter, 58-year-old Tina Fulton-Kennedy, said her father does everything for her mother including preparing her meals and putting the blanket on for her.
“He thinks of Mom before himself at all times,” Ms. Fulton-Kennedy, who lives two hours away from her parents, said. “Mom is very appreciative of his love and support.”
Mr. Hart enlisted in the army and went to war straight out of school. He later trained as an accountant and farmed beef and deer on a property named Oakwood for 50 years until retiring at the age of 90. Ms. Hart, meanwhile, enjoyed a long career as a physiotherapist and spent time in London, England, before running a private practice back home in Australia.
Mr. and Ms. Hart’s families knew each other when the couple were youngsters. They thus had a lot of private parties together and with their family. Mr. Hart was also a friend of his wife’s brother. When Ms. Hart returned from England, her now-husband asked her on a date, and, after spending quality time together, the pair fell head over heels in love.
“We got married in 1954. We have four children, they’re all grown up now, and we have grandkids and great-grandkids,” said Ms. Hart, whose granddaughter, Samantha, helps take care of them.
When asked about how they’ve dealt with challenges in their marriage, the couple admitted that they didn’t really have any challenges.
Sharing their philosophy for a happy, successful marriage, the couple said: “Work together and don’t take the easy way out. ... Be loyal to one another. ... Have a happy life, and enjoy each other’s company.”
Mr. Hart also shared an additional recipe for long-term contentment: “Have a scotch together every night, and a cup of tea every morning!”
After 68 years of marital bliss, the couple has shared their wisdom with young married couples. Mr. Hart said: “Make them a cup of tea every morning.”
While Ms. Hart said: “Work hard at the relationship and don’t think that you can opt-out at the slightest hurdle.”
