Man Sends Wife Same Valentine’s Card for 40 Years with New Coded Love Note Each Time

A devoted husband is celebrating Valentine’s Day by sending his beloved wife the same card he’s posted over and over again for the last 40 years.

Ken Myers, a self-confessed romantic, began his unique way of saying ‘I love you’ back in 1979, six years after he married his sweetheart, Valerie.

The 78-year-old novelist writes a new message inside the card every year – which is now full of little coded love notes from the past four decades.

And Ken, of Leeds, even created the romantic card himself as he used to work as a card designer back in the 1970s.

He said: “I worked in the industry for around ten years and designed hundreds of cards, for big companies like Hallmark.

“I sent the card to Valerie in 1979, and then again in 1980. After that, I just carried on because it was a novelty.

“I like to think I’m a romantic husband. I am a member of the Romantic Novelists Association, so I’m a qualified romantic.

“I think Valerie would be disappointed if I came back one year with a different card. It’s become a family heirloom.”

Ken, who writes under the name Ken McCoy, has had 27 romantic and crime novels published, all set in Leeds in the 1940s and 50s.

His card, which reads “Happy Valentine’s Day to my Wife”, shows a boy offering his beloved a heart tied to a catapult.

On the inside, he’s written his wife a new love note every year – in a code Valerie has to decipher each time.

He and Valerie – who have five children, 12 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren – are celebrating St Valentine’s Day in a low key style by having a meal and exchanging cards.

Ken said: “My old card is brimming with messages but there’s room for many more. It’s got plenty of years left in it yet.”

Valerie, 69, added: “I do love the card and it’s become really special to me over the years. It’s in very good condition.

“I always make sure it’s in a safe place. One year, I put it in such a safe place that I couldn’t find for a while afterwards.

“Ken is a very romantic husband. After 45 years of marriage, those little touches definitely help to keep the magic alive.

“I think the secret to a long and happy marriage is to be friends. When the first flushes of love disappear you have to like each other a lot. We make each other laugh.

“My health has deteriorated in the past couple of years and Ken has been a tower of strength.

“He is absolutely brilliant, he does everything, cooks and cleans, and he never grumbles. I really struck gold when I met Ken.”