Lots of love and 70 years
BY LISA HONEYBONE
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Compromise is the key to this couple’s 70-year marriage.
John Arnold, 90, and his wife Joan, 89, cele-brated their platinum wedding anniversary on Sunday, February 28.
They are internet savvy and up until their 80s, still got around in a sports car.
The couple have two daughters, Ann and Lesley, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
As well as their anniversary, Ann’s birthday was on February 25 and Joan marked her 90th birthday on March 2.
They have an apartment at The Poynton retirement complex in Milford and had a celebratory lunch out in the central courtyard.
The couple met in England in 1940 during the war.
They were based at the same headquarters when one day John spotted Joan and decided the "good-looking girl" was the one for him.
He would shortly get sent to France so they decided to get married.
"I couldn’t leave her behind around all those men," he says.
They got married as soon as the licence came through in a small church wedding followed by a reception at Joan’s parents house in Croydon, London.
John left shortly after their honeymoon in Bournmouth.
Joan stayed with her parents before finding a cottage on her own so John could visit her when he was on leave.
"I was young, I wanted to be near my husband," she says.
John completed 10 years’ service in 1948.
By that stage Joan had been running a pub but they weren’t enjoying it so they decided to move to New Zealand.
They soon got a place on a ship and arrived in 1951. They first stayed with friends in Narrow Neck and then settled in Cheltenham Beach.
The couple say they’ve had their ups and downs but you can’t go through life agreeing on everything.
Communication is important in their relationship and they say at the end of the day you still have to have love for one another.
"Without love, you can forget it."
- © Fairfax NZ News
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