ANN Gettins was at a dance with another man when she first caught the eye of Robert Harrison.
The dance, held in Birmingham in the UK, was held to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953.
Nearly seven decades later, Mr Harrison remembers how Ms Gettins’ style and ladylike composure caught his attention from across the street.
Later in the night, he asked her to dance.
Ms Gettins was struck by how handsome and tall he was, and refunded her dance entrance fee of two shillings and six pence to her original date before letting Mr Harrison walk her home.
From that moment, the pair were joined at the hip— the very next day, he returned to her house to take her for a walk along the canal.
Just two months later, Mr Harrison proposed at a dance at Billesley Community Hall, and the two were married on April 3, 1954 at the Holy Cross Church in Birmingham.
They will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary in 2019.
After they were married, Mr Harrison worked as a bus driver, police officer, interior decorator, car deliverer and served in Malaysia with the British army.
When the two moved to Australia in 1967, he worked at a shipyard and as a gardener, weighbridge operator and a custodian for a church in Manly.
The pair lived in Wynnum and Manly before moving to Wellington Point in 1982.
In an experience the couple identifies as one of the highlights of their marriage, they completed a five-year mission with the Mormon church in Sydney.
Back in the Redlands in 1996, they bought a mobile home in Thorneside, where they continue to live today.
Mr and Mrs Harrison said the highlights of their time together included spending time with their four children, eight children and nine great grandchildren, as well as with each other.
“I love her because she takes good care of me,” Mr Harrison said.
“We are always there for each other (and we) both help each other with the housework.”
Mrs Harrison said Mr Harrison always knew how to cheer her up when she was down.