Now aged 81 and 88, their love story has grown quietly across their lifetime. They first met in \u014ct\u0101ne when Norma was 8, and Jim was a teenager. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe was mates with my brother … He was always at my mum\u2019s and dad\u2019s, and we became like brother and sister,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Jim became part of the family, drinking beer with her father on Sundays, joining holidays, and attending gatherings. <\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody thought he was mum\u2019s and dad\u2019s son. He was always there,\u201d Norma said.<\/p>\n
There was no romance between them, though, and Norma married at 19 and had three children. <\/p>\n
Jim married too and had a daughter of his own.<\/p>\n
But they remained close, and Jim was even an usher at Norma\u2019s first wedding, while she was friends with his wife. <\/p>\n
Their families often spent summers in neighbouring caravans at Clifton.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been family forever. We were brought up together,\u201d Jim said.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t until their 40s, when both were single, that things changed.<\/p>\n
Norma\u2019s parents nudged her.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad said, \u2018Why don\u2019t you cotton on to Jim? He\u2019ll look after you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
A weekend trip to Taup\u014d marked the turning point. Jim invited her along, they spent some time together, and their first kiss came after a family wedding. <\/p>\n
Norma admits she made the first move.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we\u2019ve been together ever since,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Norma says they are \u201csoulmates\u201d.<\/p>\n
These days, the couple\u2019s routine starts with morning tea together.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe sit here and chat … and then he does beautiful colouring in … he does mandalas and flowers, and he always asks me what colours I want,\u201d Norma says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have lunch together, we have dinner together, we watch the news together … We just like being together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Norma and Jim at Radius Hampton Court, spending the afternoon together while Jim works on his colouring. Photo \/ Rafaella Melo<\/p>\n
For nearly three years Jim lived at Hampton Court before Norma moved in permanently last month. Staff say he brightened noticeably when she arrived.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe used to ring me every day,\u201d Norma said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019d tell the boys at the table, \u2018I\u2019m off to ring the war office.\u2019 He missed me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pair has no plans for Valentine\u2019s Day. Norma said they are not the type for traditional celebrations, but while there are no grand romantic gestures, Jim has always found his own way to surprise her.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne day he asked what I wanted for Christmas, and I said, \u2018a grizzly bear\u2019, and he bought one,\u201d Norma recalled.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt cost $100, and he\u2019s big. He\u2019s laid on our bed forever. We call him Grizz.\u201d <\/p>\n
For a milestone birthday, Jim went further, commissioning a handmade witch on a broom, complete with horsehair and a handcrafted handle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe witch is a really special gift. He came home and said, \u2018look at this\u2019, and he had a blanket on the back seat, he took the blanket out, \u2018tah-dah!\u2019, and I was like, \u2018Oh well. She\u2019s beautiful and ugly at the same time\u2019. And she\u2019s still hanging up in the bedroom in our home,\u201d Norma said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s Jim. Not flowers … but something you\u2019d never expect.\u201d<\/p>\n
The handmade witch Jim commissioned for Norma\u2019s milestone birthday, one of his most ‘unexpected’ romantic gestures.<\/p>\n
For him, that was romance.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is a very good dad, and very patient with me … he has always been there for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
And that is what the couple believe is the secret to a long-standing relationship.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust doing things together and being there for each other,\u201d Norma says.<\/p>\n
Jim nods. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe always liked doing things together. We had no secrets, we were always there for each other and for our family,\u201d Jim said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Now aged 81 and 88, their love story has grown quietly across their lifetime. They first met in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283058,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1561,12448,1976,2882,111,43,139,158042,5006,69,70013,49123,427],"class_list":{"0":"post-283057","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-bay","9":"tag-couples","10":"tag-hawkes","11":"tag-love","12":"tag-new-zealand","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-newzealand","15":"tag-nontraditional","16":"tag-not","17":"tag-nz","18":"tag-pumpkins","19":"tag-roses","20":"tag-story"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}