Jake and Mary Jacobs marked their 70th anniversary of a happy marriage last year, but their journey wasn’t simple.

Mary, who is White, and Jake, who is Black, lived in the same city in 1940s Britain. At that time, there weren’t many Black men there.

Even though Mary’s father told her to leave, Mary chose love over easy choices.

“When I told my father I was going to marry Jake, he said, ‘If you marry that man, you will never set foot in this house again.’”

Mary and Jake first met at a technical college where Mary was learning typing and shorthand, and Jake was undergoing Air Force training. They met during the war when Jake moved from Trinidad to Britain.

Jake impressed Mary with his understanding of Shakespeare, and they got to know each other. One day, they invited Mary and her friend to join them for a picnic. Unfortunately, someone passing by saw them and reported Mary to her father. The woman was shocked to see two English girls talking with black guys. After this incident, Mary wasn’t allowed to visit her father again.

After Jake returned to Trinidad, they kept in touch through letters. A few years later, he came back to the U.K. to find a better-paying job.

Jake surprised Mary by proposing, and she, at 19, said yes. However, when she told her family, they kicked her out.

“I left with only one small suitcase. No family came to our registry office wedding in 1948.”

Mary’s father was upset about her marrying a black man, and Mary didn’t realize that society felt the same way.

The early years of their marriage in Birmingham were tough. Mary cried every day, hardly ate, and they faced many challenges. Nobody would talk to them, they couldn’t find a place to live because nobody would rent to a black man, and they had little money.