By Sheree Hoddinett
We all know the date February 14 for one big reason, it’s Valentine’s Day. A day full of love, flowers, chocolate, sentimental messages and romance. While we can’t all feel the effects of cupid and his arrow, it seems there is still some true love stories out there. I reached out to the community to see if anyone wanted to share their special story and received quite a few responses. So many of you have some amazing and beautiful love stories, I wish I could share them all, but alas here is just a snippet.
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Cliff and Tania Linsdell (shared by Tania) I was just 15 when my family arranged a beach day with my sister and her husband’s family. We often had joint family outings, but one brother, Cliff, was in the Navy and I’d really only glanced at him at their wedding. In fact, I didn’t really think too much of him at that point. This beach trip to Sylvan proved to be different. My elder sister was heavily pregnant by this time and really wanted to just lie on her tummy on the beach, but obviously ‘bump’ was in the way. I watched on as this Navy brother-in-law carefully dug a hole in the sand and then laid a towel on top so she could comfortably stretch out tummy down. “Wow!” I thought! “What a gentleman”. After that we chatted during the beach trip and he offered to give me a lift home. Even though his mum suggested we take the little brother, he declined! A spark of romance had already begun. We went out on our first date that night and fell asleep under the streetlight outside the Wamuran Post Office, where I lived with my parents. My father had already been out to check on us in the wee hours and make sure all was ‘above aboard’, which we weren’t aware of. Having stayed all night, my now hubby, was really worried he’d be in strife! I invited him in for breakfast and mum said that they realised we were right under the streetlight and behaving! Anyway, by the end of that week I told my mother that I thought I would marry him. She thought I’d forget about him when he went back to his ship, but we wrote constantly and he would catch a train from Garden Island, Sydney where his ship HMAS Melbourne was docked, to Strathfield where a public phone would provide all the sailors in the know with cheap long distance phone calls. We were engaged a few months later and married on my 16th birthday that year. This year will mark our 47th wedding anniversary and we have raised five children who have blessed us with 20 grandchildren and so far, one great-grandchild with another expected this year!
Cliff and I think it is a full circle moment that Sylvan Beach is now our local beach, given that neither of us lived on Bribie when we met.
Cliff and Tania now.
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Lance and Cheryl Martin (shared by Cheryl)
Fate brought my husband and I together. My husband’s brother was driving his friend over to see his girlfriend and my husband decided to go along for the ride. At that time, I was visiting my sister and her stepdaughter on the other side of town at West Heidelberg in Victoria. Our eyes met and it was love at first sight.
We were married in 1963, I was 16 and my husband turning 18. We raised five children (which included undiagnosed twin girls), whom we think have all turned out to be decent human beings.
In 1978, looking like the Beverley Hillbillies and being persuaded by a friend, we moved to Queensland with five children, one mother-in-law and the budgie, we set off on our journey.
Initially we went to Mackay, but that was such a culture shock coming from Melbourne that we only stayed there for five months before moving to Upper Mt Gravatt.
We don't profess to have the perfect marriage, as there is no such thing. Life hasn't been easy and has thrown us a few curve balls, but we always managed to work through any differences that may have arisen. My grandmother gave me some great advice – “never go to sleep on an argument”.
My husband has always been a hard worker to provide for our family and he has always loved our kids, grandkids and great grandkids.
I remember when one of our youngest grandkids was being born, I asked him how he felt about another one and he said that there was always room in your heart for one more. We now have 14 grandkids and nine biological great grandkids to date, plus three non-biological ones.
We are fortunate to have a very loving relationship with our family.
We now live on Bribie Island and on February 9 we will celebrate our 62nd wedding anniversary. My husband is my best friend and me his.
Lance and Cheryl when they married.
Lance and Cheryl today.
From the team at The Local, we wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day and hope you are able to share the day with all those nearest and dearest to your heart.
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