Love and respect keep ties strong
‘‘WE just clicked.’’
That is how Eileen McRae (nee Wilkinson) explains becoming attracted to a dashing young man from Gore at a certain December dance in Queenstown in 1957.
And continuing to ‘‘click’’ has also been as good an explanation as any other for why that young man, Bob McRae, and his wife, Eileen, now both 82 years old, are still together.
They celebrated 60 years of happy married life together at their Dunedin home on Saturday.
‘‘And we’re still clicking,’’ Mrs McRae added with a smile.
‘‘We got on well, he used to help with the children,’’ she said.
After meeting the day before, on December 28, through sharing the last dance of the evening in Queenstown, Mr McRae dropped round to the Queenstown camping ground where his wifetobe was staying with friends.
And he made sure their tent had been set up correctly.
In 1960, they were married and they continued to live together in Gore until 1977, when they moved to Dunedin.
Having mutual ‘‘love and respect’’ and continuing to work through any issues together had also been a key to success for their marriage,
Mr McRae said.
These days, with seven children, 16 grandchildren and six greatgrandchildren, the couple always have plenty to do together and much to discuss.
Strong values, their religious beliefs, talking through any issues and always stepping up to help each other have contributed to marital success.
‘‘God has been very good to us,’’ Mr McRae said.
His own parents had separated when he was young and
Mr McRae ‘‘made a decision very, very early on’’ to provide a different and more reliable future for his wife and children.
‘‘I’ve tried to keep to that,’’ he added.
‘‘We can’t afford a divorce,’’
Mr McRae joked.
The family had remained ‘‘really quite close’’, and they often got back together to spend holidays together.
‘We’re very lucky with our family,’’ Mrs McRae said.