He was completing a motor technician's course at the Paddington Technical College in London, and she was studying for her 'A' and 'S' levels at the same institution when they met up in the cafeteria.

Malcolm Swan was sitting with a group of fellow students when Yvette Lewis walked in. As the president of the Student Union, she was neither shy nor reticent, so she had no hesitation in approaching the young men and asking them to buy tickets for the forthcoming dance.

"They all bought one each, so I said, 'What about the girls?' and they just laughed," Mrs. Swan recalls.

By the end of the evening, and after several dances, a certain spark had been created between the pair which did not go unnoticed.

"Since Yvette was a known troublemaker one of the lecturers warned me the next day to be careful, and an African student told me I was not of her class," Mr. Swan says.

Nonetheless, the friendship continued, and they tell the rest of their story with the banter and humour that comes from years of happy togetherness.

"When Malcolm would tell me he'd pick me up at six o'clock, I started getting dressed at six o'clock because he was never on time," Mrs. Swan says.

"I was just running on Bermuda time," he counters."I probably never changed my watch!"

Just over a year after their first meeting Mr. Swan returned to Bermuda and the then-Miss Lewis went on to the University of Aston in Birmingham to study optometry. The duo corresponded regularly, and once a quarter they would talk by telephone, which meant her having to make a round trip by train to her sister's home in London.

By December, 1967 Malcolm Swan's mind was made up. This was the woman he wanted to marry, so he invited her to Bermuda for Christmas. Meanwhile, unknown to his prospective bride, he wrote to her parents in Jamaica requesting their permission to marry her once her studies were completed.

"I had about three years to go, so my parents wrote to me and said, 'Who is this young man Malcolm Swan? He wrote to ask us if it was okay for you to get married'.

So I wrote back and said I guessed it was okay. Imagine, he never asked me to marry him first, he asked my parents!" Mrs. Swan says.

On Christmas day, as the Swan family sat around the dining table, Malcolm formally proposed and was duly accepted. After a three-year engagement they finally married at St. Luke's church in Cross Roads, Kingston on August 15, 1970. Among the Bermudians who attended were members of the groom's family, Mr. Reggie Minors and now-Mayor Lawson Mapp.

Following a honeymoon in Ocho Rios, the couple journeyed to Bermuda for a second reception, and then proceeded to England, where Mr. Swan studied for his supervisory management diploma at Bromsgrove College in Worcestershire while his wife completed her internship at Coventry and Warwickshire Eye Hospital.

The intense commuting meant that they saw little of each other, but the year passed quickly, and they returned to Bermuda for good in 1971 to begin their working lives: he as an assistant manager in the parts department of Pearman, Watlington & Co.'s garage, and she as an optometrist at the Bermuda Optical Company.

Over time, Mr. Swan would rise to become the general manager of PW's new St. John's Road garage. Today, he is the managing director of Robinson's Marina in Somerset, while Mrs. Swan has remained with her original employer.

The couple have three sons: Brian, and twins Dene and Dane, and own their own home in Warwick. Their nearly 32 years together have been action-packed, and their service to the community impressive.

Mr. Swan's involvement includes the presidency of the Hamilton Lions Club in 1985, active membership in the Gilbert Institute and Warwick Academy PTAs, and being a founding member of the Warwick Community Education programme.

He is also a director of Tools and Equipment Unlimited, and a founding member of the Bermuda Autocycle Union.

Mrs. Swan is a former United Bermuda Party senator and cabinet minister who continues to canvas for the party in Warwick today.

She is also a past world president of the International Federation of Business and Professional Women, and a lay preacher at Wesley Methodist Church. She is also the typanist in the church orchestra. From day one, they have not only worked together and shared household and parenting duties equitably, but also they have been supportive of one another in everything.

When asked to define the secret of their happy marriage, they both answer: "Communication," which includes the advice given to them by a wedding guest: "Never go to bed angry."

"Sometimes you are so angry you don't want to make up but you have to," Mrs. Swan says. "We have learned to give and take in arguments. Both of us studied philosophy and psychology in school so when things are about to get hot one of us will walk away for a bit, and we taught our children to do the same."

The couple also placed great importance on communicating as a family.

"We talked about everything in front of the children: politics, current events, how the kids' day went," the mother of three remembers. "Our dining table was a levelling factor."

Clearly a couple who clearly delight in each other's company, and whose love and respect for one another is laced with warmth and humour, they see their marriage as a blessing.

Recalling their wedding day, Mrs. Swan says: "It may sound like a long time but it seems as if it were only yesterday. In our hearts we believe we are still young."

Today, they will exchange Valentine gifts and prove it.