Tom Atkins credits divine intervention for bringing him and his wife Alice together 27 years ago, and said the past 25 years of marriage have been the best 25 years they’ve had.
“Twenty-seven years ago I was going to look at a house to buy in Golden,” said Tom. “It was dark and as I headed into town I could see the city lights. All of a sudden, a shooting star shot across the sky and appeared to land in the city. When I got to the house I was going to look at, I realized the star seemed to have landed directly on the house. I took it as a sign and bought the house.”
Not long after moving into his new home, a woman named Alice, who lived in Chicago, came to visit his neighbor, and Tom and Alice hit it off, and spent the next two years in a long-distance relationship. In the summer of 1995, Alice came to visit and Tom took her to some property he owned in South Park, with the intention of proposing.
Once again, the heavens seemed to open up and show Tom he was doing the right thing.
“We were driving up and the skies were pretty dark,” said Alice. “Then suddenly, we came around a corner and the skies cleared up and there were rainbows everywhere. It was beautiful.”
Tom asked Alice to marry him under the stars on Aug. 10, which happened to be the weekend of the Perseid meteor showers, and as she accepted his proposal, stars shot through the sky.
“We knew darn well we were made for each other,” said Tom.
The two said the key to their lasting happiness is keeping love alive, good communication and lots of physical touches, and offer some simple advice for young people today.
“I know young people today are all about sustainability,” said Tom. “Marriage is an investment in your future, and when you think about sustainability, a good life partner is sustainability in your future.”