Scottish couple rekindle long lost love after 51 years

Rose Murphy and Robert Conner were sweethearts when they were 17 and 19-years-old, but they split up and went their separate ways for 51 years. 

Despite the time, they were still thinking about each other all these years later. Then, an unexpected encounter reignited their romance, and the pair have now finally tied the knot. 

"I think fate had a wee hand in it", said Rose, now 68, "Time hasn't changed us, it hasn't changed our feelings."

The pair, who at the time lived in Knightswood and Milngavie, had been planning to get engaged in the early 1970s, but they separated over an argument. 

Robert and Rose on their wedding day at Kilmardinny House in Bearsden (Image: Gail Photography)

Rose last saw Robert in 1972, when she was having photographs taken at her sister's wedding.

"I saw him across the road and I just wanted to run over," she said, "By the time the photographer had finished he was gone. We never seen each other for 51 years."

They both moved on, married, and had children with other people. 

Rose, a retired nurse, said: "Life moved on but he never stopped thinking about me and I never stopped thinking about him. We never thought we'd see each other again. 

"I thought about him often. It turns out we were living 29 minutes apart."

Robert and Rose on their wedding day with Rose's daughter Lorna Latham and Robert's best man Callum Moffat (Image: Gail Photography)

Fast forward to August 2023, Rose had been divorced for 15 years and Robert was also separated from his wife. 

Rose was walking through a church car park when she heard a male voice shouting her name. 

"I turned around and seen Robert," she said, "He took the sunglasses off my face and we started crying and hugging each other. It was very emotional.

"We went for a walk and a cup of tea and talked about how stupid we had been. We could have had a great life together. 

"We asked my dad if we could get married and he was overjoyed."

An old photo of Robert and Rose as teenagers which Robert had kept for 51 years (Image: Gail Photography / Robert Conner)

It turned out Robert, a Porsche technician who is now 70, had kept a photograph of the two of them after all these years. 

Rose said: "It was as if those 51 years hadn’t existed. We really love each other’s company.  He’s the same person he’s just an older version.

“When you get older you start to look at life very different, every day’s a blessing. I’m happy to spend whatever time I have on this Earth with Robert."

Rose and Robert wed in a "beautiful" ceremony at Kilmardinny House in Bearsden in November 2023, and now they are saving up for a honeymoon together. 

"I was shaking like a leaf on the day," Rose said, "He puts his arm around me and said 'it's alright'. It was one of those weddings where nothing was serious, everything was funny. It was beautiful."

Robert and Rose are now making up for lost time (Image: Gail Photography)

Since, the pair have moved in together in Kirkintilloch and have been busy making up for lost time, going to events and music concerts which they always used to do together. 

Rose says she would tell her former self or anyone in the same situation to "just do it". 

She said: "If your heart tells you it’s still the right thing to do, and it never leaves you, it’s the right thing to do. 

“Don’t be stubborn, always look at two sides to every story. Follow your heart, it doesn’t matter what people think or what they say about you, because if you’re happy, that’s it.”