Don and Bernice Brown's story of 65 years of marriage begins close to Frankston, near Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, and it is still going strong, hundreds of kilometres away in Stawell.
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Mr and Mrs Brown moved to Stawell around a decade ago.
One of their children, Judith, were planning on moving their family from around Somerville, up to Stawell in Victoria's west.
"We came to Stawell nine years ago," Mrs Brown said.
"We were all living on the peninsula, but Judy and her husband wanted a tree change and they found Stawell.
"Our grandson wouldn't come, he said to me 'I don't think I want to go Nan.
"He loved his school. He said Nana if you promise to go to Stawell I'll go because I know if you promise you'll do it.
"I nearly fell off my chair. We didn't know he was thinking like this.
"If you can find me a nice house in Stawell and I can sell this one within six months, I promise we will come up."
And since then, the Brown's have called Stawell home and even celebrated their 65 th wedding anniversary here.
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"I enjoy that it is a lot quieter here," Mr Brown said.
"I have enjoyed the people.
"We used to live on an island, on Flinders Island in the Bass Strait and the people here remind me so much of the people on Flinders. We have felt so welcome.
"We have spent time with the Hospital Auxiliary, the agricultural show, Probus club and the Stawell Uniting Church and so we have joined in and been made to feel welcome and part of the group."
Throughout their time together, the Brown's have called several different places their own.
Their story starts in Frankston when Mr Brown saw a young woman that caught his eye.
"I was in the army down at Balcombe," Mr Brown said.
"There was a community singing night and I saw this girl walk out and I knew the girl walking in front of her.
"I asked her who this girl in front of us was and I asked to see if she would come to one of our dances.
"My friends said no she doesn't go to any of the service dances.
"One night she came down and then we got talking on the night.
"I got on the bus and came all the way back to Frankston with Bernice and then I had a 13 kilometere walk back."
Mrs Brown said from the first time they met; the pair have always enjoyed each other's company.
"We were all on the bus and all of a sudden; bang, bang, bang and Don jumps up on the steps and comes and sits down beside me," she said.
"Don's sergeant, when we were dancing that first night, said how long have you known that girl.
"Don said I have only just meet her and he said, 'come on, you get on too well to only have just met'."
After spending time together at some of the dances, Mr and Mrs Brown would spend together and with each other's' friends as they headed to the beach.
"I used to play football and I'd catch the bus after the game and we would go and get fish and chips and have that together," Mr Brown said.
Despite their blossoming affection, Mrs Brown was swiftly gone as she headed to Sydney to spend some time with the air force.
"It wasn't going to be serous and so I joined the air force," Mrs Brown said.
"Don didn't know anything about it and my mum said, 'didn't Bernice tell you she is in the air force?"
But after a little time apart, Mr Brown was placed in Sydney where the Mrs Brown became engaged on the night of his graduation.
After little courtship Mr Brown proposed, and Mrs Brown said 'yes'.
The wedding was held just six months later at the Frankston Methodist Church.
With Mr Brown's commitment to the defence force, the wedding and celebrations were brief, with a wedding night stay at the Menzies Hotel the end before an early flight back to Sydney.
The couple spent their first few years in Sydney before an accident with Mr Brown's family at their property on Flinders' Island relocated the family.
It was here the Brown family started to form their roots and where they would spend the next 13 years of their lives.
"We were married for a year and five days when I had the first child, Don Jr and had three others on Flinders' Island with Rodney, Karen and Judith," Mrs Brown said.
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"The island was a great place to raise the kids.
"There are beautiful beaches on the island and they were still untamed and wild.
"We played golf, tennis, badminton and fishing and crayfishing around the island.
"But we had some sick children and being on the island was hard.
"We decided to move back to the peninsula when secondary education came along.
The family returned to the mainland where they raised their kids and continued their lives until they changed everything and moved to Stawell.
The Brown's are also the proud grandparents to 10 grandchildren and one great grandchild in New Zealand.
"I am very close with my grandchildren, and I have always been family-orientated," Mrs Brown said.
"We did everything together and do everything together as a family."
And as for a happy, long-lasting marriage, the Brown's said communication was key.
"You have to know when to bite your tongue," Mr Brown laughed.
"But seriously it is all about give and take and you have to take it in turns.
"You should be there for each and be honest," Mrs Brown said.
"You have to like each other and pick the right one."
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