JUST being friends with each other is the secret to a long and happy marriage according to Lawrence and Doreen Alford.
The couple from South Newton celebrated 60 years of marriage on Boxing Day and enjoyed a family party at their daughter’s house to mark the occasion.
“I think it is being friends with one another for a long time,” said Doreen, 81. “I think with us being together for so long, we live longer because we have each other.”
Doreen met Lawrence, now 82, through his sister when he was in the Army but refused to go out with him until he was de-mobbed.
They finally got married at a church in West Grimstead on December 26, 1949 when Lawrence was 22 and Doreen was 21.
Lawrence worked for many years as a lorry driver while Doreen worked in Marks & Spencer and brought up their five children – Margaret, Carol, Janice, Colin and Lyn.
They also have 11 grandchildren, six boys and five girls, and five great-grandsons.
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