TWO hard-working couples at Thornlands' Moreton Shores aged care village are celebrating 60 years of marriage.
Sandra and Geoff Robson met at the Cloudland Ballroom in 1959, and Elma and Joe Dagg at a Canungra dance in 1957.
The Robsons married on January 28, 1961 at St Augustine's Church at Hamilton and honeymooned on board a 36-foot boat in Moreton Bay.
The Daggs tied the knot at Canungra Methodist Church on February 18, 1961 before travelling to Sydney for their honeymoon.
The couples live in the residential area of Moreton Shores aged care village, having previously owned homes at different locations across Brisbane and the Redlands.
The Robsons said among the biggest challenges of their lives was the 1974 Brisbane flood, which swept through their first home at Fairfield.
"It sounds strange, but we were lucky because we didn't have flood insurance," Mr Robson said.
"People who had flood insurance didn't get back into their houses for a couple of years.
"I was in the house as the water (level) was going down and sweeping as much mud out of the house as I could.
"We had the kids at Sandra's sisters place but within five days to a week of the flood, we were sleeping there again.
"There was no furniture or anything and we had to sleep on the floor."
The flood killed 16 people, injured 300 and destroyed 8000 homes.
Mrs Robson said she had a contrasting personality to her husband but believed their differences had helped the relationship.
"We are a bit oil and water," she said. "I'm the extrovert and Geoff's an introvert.
"That is how it has worked and I think that's why we have lived so long."
Mr Robson proposed six weeks after the couple met at Cloudland but was turned down.
They married a few years later after sending several letters back and forth while Mr Robson was away working.
"We hadn't even been to the pictures together until we got married because he was only down for two days at a time," Mrs Robson said.
Mr Robson worked in a few different jobs during his career but said he enjoyed his role with the state government servicing lighthouses so much, he would have paid money to do it.
"Someone invented battery powered electric lights, but they were non-rechargeable batteries," he said.
"I saw that there was this thing called solar power. Everyone said 'Robbo, that's stupid'.
"I said 'look, we're going to have a go at this', and in my time we had converted everything to solar power.
"A number of people hate their jobs and spend all their life doing something they don't like. I would have given them money to do mine."
Mr Dagg, a keen Easts Tigers rugby league fan, was training for the army when the pair met at the Canungra dance.
They have three children together, Leanne, Jenine and Suellen.
They also have seven grandkids - all of which were born within 12 months of each other - and two great grandchildren.
Mr Dagg said they had owned a caravan for 16 years and travelled widely overseas.
Mrs Dagg, who worked as a phlebotomist (drawing blood for testing), said she and her husband had lived by the rule of never going to bed angry with each other.
"We have had our ups and downs, but haven't we all?" she said.
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