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\nIan and Trish were married at St Mary\u2019s Catholic Church in Paeroa, on August 7, 1976. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
What started with a young man taking parcels into a Paeroa shoe store back in the 1970s has turned into 50 years of marriage, delivering love and memories.<\/p>\n
Bellevue couple Trish (nee Odlum) and Ian McGonigal celebrated their golden, 50th wedding anniversary last month.<\/p>\n
The pair said they met while Trish was working at Bates Shoe store in Paeroa and Ian was working as a truck driver. Two years later they were engaged.<\/p>\n
The couple wed on August 7, 1976, at St Mary\u2019s Catholic Church in Paeroa.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere Trish worked was two doors down from the road service depot and we were introduced basically by some mutual friends that knew Trish\u2019s parents and my parents,\u201d said Ian, aged 75.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe guys at work got to hear about it, so every time there was a parcel to take to the shoe shop, it was my job to go meet this chick,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d go in, in shorts, boots and a singlet.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were pretty busy in the shoe store in the afternoons, and he came in and stood silently waiting,\u201d said Trish, aged 71.<\/p>\n
First date <\/p>\n
Their first impressions of one another? \u201cShe was quite a good looker,\u201d said Ian.<\/p>\n
\u201cI suppose you were stable,\u201d said Trish. \u201cYou weren\u2019t a loony!\u201d<\/p>\n
The couple\u2019s first date was at the Thames Picture Theatres.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a war movie,\u201d said Trish. \u201cFancy taking a girl to a war movie? Especially where they all get taken to a concentration camp\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\nIan and Trish were married at St Mary\u2019s Catholic Church in Paeroa, on August 7, 1976. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not really the romantic type,\u201d said Ian. \u201cNever have been \u2013 but that was it. We clicked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heading into married life, the couple wound up in Tauranga in 1978 after Ian had a job transfer with New Zealand Road Services. The pair became proud parents of two daughters, Heather in 1981, and Louise in 1983, and today have two granddaughters.<\/p>\n
In love and in business <\/p>\n
While raising their daughters, the couple owned and ran a same-day courier business from Tauranga to Gisborne.<\/p>\n
For more than 20 years Ian ran deliveries while Trish headed the administration side of things.<\/p>\n
Starting their own courier business was \u201cjust a crazy idea,\u201d Ian said, after he finished his job with New Zealand Couriers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe decided we\u2019d have a crack at that. It was actually a guy that put me onto it to give it a go \u2026 he gave me a list of five or six customers to go and see that he knew would use [the service] and so I went and saw them and started it from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Teaming up as husband and wife in business went smoothly. \u201cHe was away a lot of it and I\u2019d be here looking after the admin. It worked out well,\u201d said Trish.<\/p>\n
Thick and thin <\/p>\n
Today the couple are happily retired. But 50 years of marriage hadn\u2019t come without its trials. Both Trish and Ian faced health and medical hardships at the same time in 2016.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrish went through breast cancer the same time I had my two knees replaced,\u201d said Ian.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had my operation in 2015 \u2026 then in January in the New Year, I started my chemo and everything, and that was hard,\u201d said Trish.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt all happened at once. We shut the business down for three or four months, but everybody came back \u2026 It was trying but we got through it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Agree to disagree\u2019 <\/p>\n
And the burning truth to having a successful marriage?<\/p>\n
\u201cJust agree to disagree,\u201d said Ian. \u201cCompromise is a big thing. If you come across a sticky situation, you work it out together.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ones these days, they give up,\u201d Trish said.<\/p>\n
Kicking back in their reclining chairs, the couple said they still knew how to give compliments too. \u201cHe hasn\u2019t aged very much,\u201d said Trish. \u201cI don\u2019t know about that,\u201d Ian fired back.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrish is very determined. Strong-minded I suppose you\u2019d say,\u201d said Ian.<\/p>\n
\u201cIan\u2019s been there for us all and we\u2019re in this together,\u201d reckons Trish.<\/p>\n
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