After more than seven decades together, Windsor’s Vern and Camilla Vallance can only laugh when they tell the story of how they met. Vern, now 95, was a regular at weekly dances when he began noticing a young woman he could never seem to get a dance with. Then, one night, his luck changed. “So, this one night, an exceptional night, here she was all alone. No one was asking her, so I asked her to dance,” he explained. But as the two stepped onto the dance floor, Vern quickly realized something wasn’t quite right - this wasn’t the same woman. “About a dozen steps on the floor. I said, ’Oh, we have a different girl here,’” he explained with a grin. His story earned a snicker from Camilla, now 97. “I couldn’t have been too bad,” she chimed in. Two years later, the pair tied the knot. They went on to raise four children and navigate the ups and downs of married life together. 75 years later, the couple said their willingness to work through difficult moments, rather than give up, is what helped their marriage endure. “We got married for better or for worse, and we lived through the better and put up with the worst and kept on going,” Camilla said. A rarely accomplished feat these days, the couple celebrated their Diamond Jubilee Anniversary on Tuesday at their Windsor retirement home. Friends and family gathered to hear the stories of their early days and learn the secret to making it 75 years together. From hard times to happy moments, and a thrilling retirement often spent travelling, the couple had no shortage of stories. Growing up in the household, Glen, their oldest son, said it wasn’t always easy for his parents, who raised three sons and one daughter. “Pure determination and nose to the grindstone on both their parts,” Glen said of their marriage. Today, the Vallances have 11 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. Reflecting on his parents’ life, Glen acknowledged that their ability to be together and see their family tree grow is no small feat. “It means they’ve lived a very charmed life. We should all be so lucky,” he said. Though 75 years may have passed, the Vallances admit there’s no guide to a long marriage, only a life of hard work and working together. When asked about the secret to reaching 75 years, their answers slightly differed. “It’s a good wife,” said a witty Vern. “Think of the other person too, not just yourself. Iron out the wrinkles,” added Camilla. For now, the couple plans to continue living life the same way, one day at a time, overcoming each obstacle and hurdle side by side.
