Val, 68, and Kerry, 79, live at Menarock Life Murrayvale and shared their journey of love and great memories over the years.
How did you meet?
Val: We were going to an activities centre in Deniliquin; he originally was coming from Berrigan and I was coming from Tocumwal. We went once a week on a Friday and we had a date at the supported work activities centre.
Kerry: It was love at first sight and we worked on it from there.
What was your wedding day like?
Val: We got married in Deniliquin in the garden in main street. It was very, very hot — it was a fire ban day.
Best memories together?
Val: A lot of them, where do we start? The day we were married, I nearly fell into the lagoon at Deni because there’s a lagoon in the middle of the gardens and nobody thought to put my (wheelchair) brakes on, including me, and I had cream shift on with a lace overcoat so you can imagine what it would look like if I’d gone in.
Our wedding reception was held in the same gardens and there were trestle tables with our wedding presents on them. Kerry got so excited after the wedding he opened them all, I didn’t open one of them. It was quite funny at the time.
What’s the secret to long-lasting love?
Val: You just can’t expect it to be roses all the time and you have to work it through. Sometimes that’s not easy but anything worthwhile has got to be worked at. When people say it gets better through the marriage, I didn’t believe that to start with. I do now though.
He’s taught me tolerance and he’s also taught me to not take things at face value. He sees everything in black and white, I’m a bit in the middle.
Advice to young couples?
Val: Just persevere. Nothing’s going to be totally easy, so they’ve got to persevere through the bad and the good times.
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