An elderly care home resident has recreated the first date he and his wife had nearly 68 years ago as a special Valentine’s Day treat to her.
David Pratt, who has dementia, previously tried to arrange the occasion with 84-year-old Sheila at the Beach Ballroom in Aberdeen but took unwell.
On Friday, the couple finally fulfilled their dream and danced to their favourite song – Strangers In The Night by Frank Sinatra – at the venue where they met every Saturday as they courted.
The 85-year-old said: “Meeting Sheila was one of the most special moments in my life so to finally get the chance to recreate this moment in a place that holds so many special memories for us both means a lot.
“Without each other there’s nothing. I wouldn’t be without her for five minutes.”
Meeting in 1952, a 17-year-old Mr Pratt was working as a printing press printer – with his shiny union lapel badge catching the eye of his future wife, who was 16 at the time.
They later married and have two children and three grandchildren.
Mr Pratt is now a resident at Jesmond Care Home in Bridge of Don, where his wife visits every day.
Although she still lives at home, Mrs Pratt often joins her husband for meals, events and social gatherings.
She said: “We didn’t know what a badge was going to do for us that day.
“And here we are, 68 years later, getting to do it all again.
“We can’t really dance but we can shuffle about.”
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