A 60th and a 70th anniversary held on Valentines Day

Peninsula Village will celebrate a 60th and a 70th wedding anniversary on Valentine's Day, February 14.

Mr and Mrs Norm and Pat Pringle met as teenagers in the 1940s and wed on February 19, 1949.

Seven full decades later, the couple is living together in a retirement apartment at Peninsula Village.

Mr Pringle, 91, can consider himself lucky to have survived so long and not because of his "dodgy heart" that saw the couple move to Peninsula Village for increased care options in mid-2017.

"He doesn't have the best track record when it comes to wedding anniversaries," Mrs Pringle said.

"One year, he forgot to buy me flowers and couldn't find any florists open on his way home from work that day.

"So he popped into the local grocer and bought me a cauliflower instead.

"They say it's the thought that counts, so I think I'll return the favour and place a cauliflower on his coffin when the time comes," she laughed.

"We moved over here 18 months ago after living in independent living at Cooinda Village for 24 years," said Mr Pringle.

"I am a bit of an old romantic and so I have organised a special cruise to celebrate our 70th wedding anniversary, with Pat and I off to Tasmania," he said.

On February 7, fellow residents Mr and Mrs Jack and Lorraine Dierikxs celebrated 60 years of marriage.

They have lived under the same roof at Don Leggett House for the past 12 months.

Unlike the Pringles, the Dierikxs do not share an apartment because of their differing care needs, but they regularly visit and enjoy each other's company.

"Peninsula Villages has been incredible making sure we can be as close as possible.

"It wasn't easy for them because we started off in different buildings, but the staff here went above and beyond to move us under the same roof," Mr Dierikxs said.

The Village held a special Chinese banquet to celebrate the Dierikxs anniversary.

SOURCE:

Media release, 7 Feb 2019

Katey Small, Brilliant Logic