A 99-year-old Italian man is divorcing his wife of 77 years after he stumbled across letters she had written to a secret lover in the 1940s.
The damning discovery days before Christmas led the galled grandfather to confront his once two-timing wife immediately, London’s Daily Telegraph reported.
The 96-year-old woman, identified in court papers as Rosa C., reportedly confessed to having an affair 60 years ago, and then tried desperately to persuade her hubby to stay.
The scorned nonagenarian, Antonio C., refused and filed for divorce despite a romance spanning nearly eight decades.
In that time, the couple amassed five children, a dozen grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
The uncovering of the letters inside an old chest of drawers was the final straw for a relationship that had already been rocky: 10 years ago, the husband moved out to live with one of the sons, but returned weeks later.
The Italian press attributed the bitter break-up to the couple's southern roots – he is originally from Olbia in Sardinia, while his wife was born in Naples, The Telegraph reported.
The former lovebirds met in the 1930s when Antontio was a military officer based in Naples.
Once the divorce is finalized, the pair could take the record for world’s oldest divorcees.
The previous oldest couple to divorce were Brits - Bertie and Jessie Wood, both aged 98, who ended their 36-year marriage in 2009, the Telegraph reported.
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unclejack1972 on March 19th, 2018 at 18:51 UTC »
After my grandfather passed we founds notes revealing he had a whole family in France we never knew about.
FacetiousTomato on March 19th, 2018 at 17:54 UTC »
Equally tragic story here:
Worked as a bartender through university - one old patron who was a regular one told me about his wife.
One day she was just gone. Been married 68 years. He was worried she had been kidnapped or had a stroke and was lost.
He goes looking for clues - she had bought plane tickets back to her hometown. He kept looking around and found the letters. She'd been sending love letters to her high school sweetheart for the whole 68 years. They were in love, and she had "finally" left him. He had no idea.
He was 88 when this happened. I think maybe 90 when I talked to him. Drank beer mixed with lemonade. One beer and one lemonade every day.
Danger_Zone on March 19th, 2018 at 15:08 UTC »
I think it would hurt more that it was 70 years ago, especially because she held on to the letters. It makes his whole life feel like a lie.