WILLASTON couple John and Margaret Schwerdt describe their first meeting, which led to 60 years of marriage, as a “happy accident”.

Despite Margaret living in Prospect and John growing up in Hamley Bridge, the pair both attended the same dance where they had some mutual friends, and ended up as dance partners.

“We would have never had met, but John was lucky and had a car, otherwise there would’ve never been any communication,” Margaret said.

“He had worked at Maralinga as a mechanic and I was a nurse. I was over in Perth the next year doing some training and when I came back we met up.

“It was only a very short meeting in 1956, then in 1957 we went out, got engaged in 1959 and married in 1960.”

The couple wed on April 23, 1960, the same year they bought a block of land and built a home at Willaston.

They have been happily married and lived in the same home ever since, giving birth to six children and now having eight grandchildren.

“The biggest thing is your kids, particularly when they’re small,” John said.

“You get so much satisfaction out of having kids. Money can’t buy that.

“I think our rewards were very good. I would say the kids were the highlights of our lives.”

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, John and Margaret can’t spend the day with friends and family celebrating their anniversary, and are planning a quiet day at home with some takeaway food.

After 60 years of marriage, John said an ability to comprise and enjoy the good things about married life is the secret to a long-lasting relationship.

“Marriage grows on you, doesn’t it? The most detrimental things (to a relationship) are little things,” he said.

“A lot of young ones get married and it’s not what it’s supposed to be. But eventually, married life grows on you.

“For some, if it’s (married life) not what they think, they bail out of it. Over a long marriage you learn to accept things and they grow on you.”