Jersey couple reunited after almost 50 years

Mike and Jenny Houghton first met in West Germany in 1971

It was love at first sight for Jenny and Mike when they met in Germany back in 1971, but after a blissful three months together the couple were drawn apart by work and did not see each other again for more than 45 years. Now both in their 70s, married and living in Jersey, they have shared their story.

Jenny was part of a dance group and Mike was a DJ when they set eyes on each other in a nightclub in 1971.

She was 19 and he was 23 when they were both in West Germany entertaining American troops, some of whom had returned from Vietnam.

"It was love at first sight," Mike, now 75, said. "People say its rubbish but that's the only way I can explain it."

They spent three months together in Wilderflecken in the Bad Kissingen province.

Mike said: "Every spare minute we had we spent together, that's the best way to describe that time."

Recalling their time together, Jenny said: "You don't know really what love is, you have a feeling it must be love and it was love."

Jenny was part of a dance group who were entertaining troops in West Germany

Mike and Jenny only had one picture of each other on top of a tank.

They both wrote on the back of their photographs "I love you".

This single picture would be the only thing they would have to remember each other by for 46 years.

Jenny, now 72, describes it as "a special love" which they thought at the time was going to last.

"We've always remembered each other as first loves," she says.

Their time was cut short when Mike had to return to the UK for some gigs and Jenny's time away was extended.

Jenny said: "We never thought we wouldn't meet again."

Mike had to return to the UK as he had more DJ gigs lined up

The couple parted ways and made attempts to stay in touch but as plans and addresses changed they lost contact.

"I never stopped thinking about Jenny. Never," Mike said.

They went on to live separate lives and have families of their own.

Mike said they later found out they had been "ships that passed in the night".

"I was travelling a lot for business, Jenny was travelling for leisure and we were criss-crossing each other around the world."

He said there were times when Jenny was driving within minutes of where he was living in England unbeknown to them both.

Jenny was widowed in 2015 and Mike was divorced.

'Exchanged messages'

In 2017, after previous attempts to make contact, Mike found Jenny on Facebook and messaged her.

"I knew him by his DJ name so I said 'is this Mike Williams?' he said 'no Mike Houghton', and I couldn't believe it - DJ Mike. Then we exchanged a lot of messages," Jenny says.

"We had so much to talk about, you wouldn't believe it, we both found out we had fantastic sense of humours, he had had a life and I'd had a life and it was amazing."

Mike and Jenny had both kept the photo of each other on the tank for 46 years ago, something they say is testament to how they never stopped thinking about one another.

Mike and Jenny had both kept the photo of each other on the tank for 46 years ago

They got married in Jersey in 2019 and say they have a great relationship with each other's families.

But do they wish they had found one another again sooner?

Mike said: "Oh god yes, definitely, we say on the one hand maybe it wouldn't have worked over that period but I wish we had had the chance to find out."

Jenny said: "I'm a bit wiser about that, I say to Mike maybe if we had got together in the 70s we would be divorced now.

"It wasn't the right time and when Mike found me I was a widow for two years, I was very lonely and it worked, it was the right time for us and we never forget that."

Mike said: "They say you should never go back but I disagree with that now."