Mary, a White woman, and Jake, a Black man, resided in the same city in 1940s Britain, although Jake was one of the few black men there.

It would have been easy for Mary to leave, but despite her father’s commands to the contrary, she had fallen in love and would do anything to be with her lover.

When I told my father I was planning to marry Jake, he threatened to banish me from the house forever if I did.

The two had met when Jake moved from Trinidad during the war at the same technical institution where Mary was taking typing and shorthand studies and he was getting ready for the Air Force.

Mary, who was living in Lancashire at the time, and Jake struck up a conversation, and she was impressed by his understanding of Shakespeare.

He and his partner extended an invitation to Mary and her friend to join them for a picnic, but when a cyclist passed by and noticed them, she was appalled to see two English girls chatting with black men and denounced Mary to her father. After he was surprised, Mary was forbidden from going to see her father again.

They corresponded to one another when Jake went back to Trinidad, and a few years later, he came back to the UK in search of better-paying employment.

When Jake unexpectedly proposed to Mary at the age of 19, she happily accepted; however, when she notified her family, they kicked her out.

“I just had one little luggage when I departed. Our 1948 registry office wedding was attended by no family.

While Mary’s father was ‘horrified’ that she would consider marrying a black man, she claimed she wasn’t aware that the rest of society felt the same way.

“The first several years of our marriage were a living hell in Birmingham; I hardly ate and grieved every day. We had no money, no one would talk to us, and we had trouble finding housing since no one would rent to a black man.

It was difficult for them to even cross the street together because people would stare at them, Mary said.

When Mary became pregnant, the couple rejoiced in the anticipation of becoming parents, but at eight months, she gave birth to a stillborn child.

We never had any more children, and although it had nothing to do with the stress she was experiencing, she admitted that it broke her heart.

With Mary working as a teacher and becoming an assistant principal in a British school, and Jake obtaining employment with the Post Office, their lives did become easier. Although Mary claimed she felt the need to explain that her husband was black before introducing them to him, they gained new acquaintances.

Even though we were on good terms by the time of his death, she claimed that her father never gave Jake his blessing.

Mary, 84, and Jake, 89, are currently residents of Solihull, a city south of Birmingham. They recently commemorated their marriage of 70 years.

Jake asserts that he has no regrets and that black youngsters today are unable to comprehend how difficult life was for him in 1940s Britain.

“Subjected to abuse on a daily basis”When I first arrived in the UK, I experienced daily abuse. A man once put his hands over my neck while I was riding a bus and stated, “I wanted to check whether the dirt would come off.

And you couldn’t work in an office back then because it was believed that a black man among all the white girls wouldn’t be safe.

The couple remains genuinely in love and has no regrets about their decision to get married in spite of all the difficulties, bigotry, and abuse. More than 70 years of happy marriage have passed between them.

These two are a wonderful inspiration, and because of their love for one another, I wish them happiness for the rest of their lives.