Janet (81) and Peter (83) Miller, of Balclutha, celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary today, but if it were not for a bold twilight move in the wilds of Clinton all those years ago, things might have taken a different turn.
Mrs Miller (nee Dodd), takes up the story:
''I was working in the phone exchange by the railway, and used to get off at 9 every night. Well on this night there were several young farmers loading up the sheep on to the trucks, and each of them in turn pipes up and says, 'I'll walk you home, Janet'. I said no to all of them, but the last. That was Peter.''
The night had been dark and, when they next met at a Clinton dance, Janet's memory of her suitor was a little hazy.
''I said to my friend, 'I don't even know what he looks like. Point him out when he arrives'. So it was a bit of a case of 'sight unseen', as it turned out,'' she joked.
Despite the potentially inauspicious start, shared interests and a shared philosophy of life soon led the pair up the aisle and they were married in Clinton after a two-year courtship.
A lifetime of hard work, first on the farms of others, then on their own 220ha Waiwera South sheep and beef farm - alongside a shared passion for sports of all types - had kept the cordial couple in ''fortunate'' good health and companionable affection during the decades since.
Four children, 10 grandchildren and (at present) a solitary great-granddaughter Leelah (11) had also filled their lives with joy, Mrs Miller said.
Having both come from remote rural childhoods, the pair had seen ''amazing'' transformations in their worlds.
''Just simple things like electricity to the home have made such a difference. Modern life is so much easier in many ways,'' Mrs Miller said.
However, with that ease had perhaps come a slide in self-discipline, Mr Miller believed.
''A few of them could do with compulsory military service like we had. You came out of that fit as a fiddle and well disciplined. Ready for life.''
Appropriately for a life spent in sporting pastimes, sport would again influence the couple's anniversary celebrations this week, Mrs Miller said.
''We were going to celebrate on Saturday, but they're all kicking a ball or shouting from the sidelines. So Sunday will have to do.''
