Out with some friends at a dance in Harriston some 60 years ago, Yvonne needed to find a drive back home. All these years later, Paul Weppler is still the one getting her there.
Yvonne and Paul with their wedding party on Oct. 23, 1964
“We didn’t get any prospects at the dance, and we saw this car drive up and down the main street in the small town,” Yvonne noted that she recognized the car and knew who it was.
“Finally, they pulled over and stopped, and we’re like, ‘Hey, we need a ride,’” she said.
From that initial meeting, the Elmira couple has been riding together ever since.
The couple never fully celebrated their anniversaries in the past but decided to have one for the diamond year, as it symbolizes the strength and endurance of their love.
On Sunday, they had more than 100 people come out to the Woolwich Memorial Centre to share in the celebration.
“We’ve got this pile of cards that we haven’t even opened yet,” said Yvonne, noting that all the support felt shocking.
“She didn’t even want to have it,” Paul said, but he wanted to organize the party because they have never celebrated much together, except going to Florida, which they have done for years.
They were surprised by how many people came out, as they were expecting only about 50 people to be there.
“Do we know the secret to a long marriage?” asked Yvonne, 78.
“If there is a secret, we haven’t discovered it yet.”
However, they point to an example of how Paul took care of Yvonne when she was diagnosed with cancer some 15 years ago.
“He took me to all my appointments, all of them,” she said, noting that she in turn took care of him when he needed her.
“We just take care of each other.”
That includes getting Yvonne where she needs to go.
“You’ve always been the driver,” she noted.
Keeping the romance alive all these years hasn’t been without a few annoyances along the way, however.
“For the first 50 years, he had nothing to do with being in the kitchen, and now he’s in the kitchen all the time,” Yvonne laughed.
“He’s not cooking, but he’s rearranging where I have the spoons in the drawer. If I want to make dinner, he decided he has to wash or dry some dishes.”
While there’s been plenty of time together, each has always recognized over the past six decades the need for a bit of his or her own space.
“I think you have to be separate, for sure,” Yvonne said.“You get a new perspective of your partner.
“Not that you would compare your partner to other people, but you know what other people are experiencing and how they’re handling things, and what they like and dislike and what they want to do,” she said.
Paul, 79, who was as an auto mechanic, always liked working. “I’ve always switched a lot of jobs; if I didn’t like one, I was gone in a month.
“But when I was self-employed for quite a while, she used to get annoyed that I wouldn’t be around enough when the kids were small,” said Paul, noting that his wife still wanted him to spend time with her and their two daughters, who now live in Ottawa.
The couple lived in many different places in southern Ontario, but set down their roots the longest in St. Clements before moving to Elmira 11 years ago since their larger property became too much for Paul to handle and they needed to find a smaller place.
Yvonne and Paul were dating for about a year before they were married on Oct. 23, 1964, and travelled to Florida shortly after they tied the knot. Travelling remains a passion for both of them.
“We do like to go away,” Yvonne said.
“We like to see different things,” said Paul, adding that there is no desire to head off to Europe or such – Florida remains the favourite destination for the snowbirds.
“I like the water, but I just want the warm,” Paul noted, saying that they enjoy sunny places such as El Salvador.
Having been together since their teens, Paul and Yvonne have both seen many changes during the course of their relationship.
“We were very young, so we just matured. That is life; this is what you do,” said Yvonne of the natural evolution.
“It’s not always going to be roses. There’s going to be other times when it’s not so smooth,” added Paul.
Even with a few bumps in the road, they’re still driving along together 60 years on.
