A couple who fell in love when they were teenagers have finally married after not speaking for 36 years.
Roland and Lisa Lalor, 56 and 54, first met working the summer season at Butlins on Barry Island, Vale of Glamorgan.
The pair became inseparable and, after returning home, continued to exchange dozens of love letters signed with lyrics from The Smiths.
But their long-distance romance was cut short in June 1986 when Mr Lalor joined the army as a chef and the couple drifted apart, not speaking again for the following three decades.
It was only last August when Mr Lalor found his teenage sweetheart on Facebook and sent her a message, asking "Hi, how are you doing?"
They met up at Preston Railway Station just five days later and their romance was rekindled.
Mr Lalor, originally from Burnley in Lancashire, said: “I just wanted to know if she had a good life, but I was nervous as hell.
“At one point I was walking away and I just took her hand without thinking, and she started giggling.
“I knew from that moment that my life was going to change. I still loved her, and she loved me.”
"Looking back, we never fell out", he added.
"But I don’t know why we stopped talking. I don’t think I realised back then what we had, and I don’t think I knew that Lisa loved me."
In the intervening 36 years, both had married, had children and divorced, all while holding on to the photographs they had of each other.
Mrs Lalor, originally from Haslington in Cheshire, said: "He was my one and only, even in the years after I’ve told so many people about him because he was my first love – and you never forget your first love."
“I thought we were going to get married. In my head Roland was going to be my husband. I was certain of it", she added.
“When he left, I was devastated, I was so madly in love.
"I went to Barry Island and came away with the love of my life. And then I lost him."
On New Year's Eve 2020, Mr Lalor again asked Mrs Lalor to meet him at the station.
When she stepped off the train, he was waiting on one knee to propose as the doors opened.
They married on August 16 in south Wales, just 15 miles away from where they first met.
Etta James’ ‘At Last’ played as they walked out. Mrs Lalor said it was a moment she had waited for her whole life.
She said: “I felt like we just resumed from that summer, like nothing had changed. I felt like a teenager in love again.
“I always knew I’d marry him. I’ve missed 36 years of my life with him, but now we will spend the rest of our lives making up for lost time.”
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