Odd News
84 years married, over 100 Grandkids: Brazil’s Epic Love Story
A Brazilian couple, Manoel Angelim Dino, 105, and Maria de Sousa Dino, 101, have set a new Guinness World Record for the longest marriage for a living couple.
They were awarded the title after their marriage, which took place in 1940, was verified by Guinness World Records and LongeviQuest, a site that tracks the lives of centenarians.
As of Valentine’s Day, the couple had been married for 84 years and 77 days.
According to Guinness World Records, Manoel (born 1919) and Maria (born 1923, maiden name Almeida de Souza) first met around 1936 while working in agriculture for their families.
Manoel had travelled to the Almeida region in the Boa Viagem district to collect a shipment of rapaduras (a traditional Brazilian candy) where he made her acquaintance, but it wasn’t until some years later that they started a relationship.
In fact, their original meeting did not lead too much at all, and it was only after a chance encounter around 1940 that Manoel decided Maria was the person he wanted to spend his life with.
He apparently fell in love at first (well, technically second) sight and was determined not to let the opportunity slip away again, so declared his feelings for Maria and asked her out, to which she said yes.
Maria’s mother was initially against the relationship, so Manoel had to earn the trust of her family and soon began building a home for the future they would share.
After getting the family approval, Manoel and Maria wed in 1940 and built a life together in the home he built, working side by side cultivating rolled tobacco to sell and support their growing family. It was a struggle, but they were able to raise 13 children, who later blessed them with 55 grandchildren, 54 great-grandchildren, and now 12 great-great-grandchildren.
Now both centenarians, their days are spent in peace. Due to his age, Manoel mostly rests during the day but often joins Maria in the living room in the evening to listen to the rosary prayer on the radio at 6 p.m., followed by the televised mass.
So, what’s the secret to a long-lasting marriage? Well, according to Maria and her family, it’s simple: love. And that’s something even the most advanced computer could never calculate.
Odd News
Message in bottle floats from Canada to Ireland in 13 years
A message in a bottle launched by visitors to Newfoundland’s Bell Island was found washed up on an Irish beach nearly 13 years later, after apparently crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
Kate Gay said she was walking a Dingle Peninsula beach this week when she spotted the wine bottle with a sheet of paper inside.
Gay showed the bottle to members of Creative Ireland NeartnaMacharaí during a meeting at her house that evening, and they broke the bottle open.
The note, written by a couple named Brad and Anita, was dated Sept. 12, 2012. The letter described the couple’s day trip to Bell Island.
There was a phone number on the letter, but there was no answer when group members tried to call.
The Maharees Heritage and Conservation group posted photos of the bottleto social media on Monday, and within an hour group members were messaging with Anita.
Group member Martha Farrell said Anita reported that she and Brad had married in 2016 and are still together to this day. -upi.com
Odd News
Woman earns world record for collection of 15,485 egg cups
A Spanish woman who has been collecting egg cups for over 50 years earned a Guinness World Record when her collection was tallied at 15,485 items.
María José Fuster recruited two witnesses to help her tally her collection at a community center in her hometown of Campo, Spain.
Fuster’s collection includes multiple patterns, colors, designs and even novelty cups bearing the images of characters including Superman, Betty Boop and Garfield.
Fuster maintains two blogs related to her hobby — one to catalog each piece, and one to list the names of the people who have donated egg cups to her collection.
Some of her most prized egg cups, about 1,143 of them, are currently on display at a local museum.
-upi.com
