June Tulloh’s husband made every day feel like Valentine’s Day – and for 63 years the couple shared a strong relationship ‘worthy of the most romantic poems’.
The 92-year-old woman from Laurieton in Sydney is still madly in love with Rex, the man she married in 1951, despite his death seven years ago.
‘He made every day feel like a special anniversary, he just made me feel like I was on top of the world, I love him very much,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
June and Rex Tulloh were married in 1951 – and had a ‘blissful’ marriage for 63 years
June, pictured, says she is still in love with her late husband seen years after his passing
The couple married four years after June first ‘fell in love’ with the ‘dreamy footballer’ who would go on to work as a plumber while she brought their children up at home.
‘I was 17 when I saw him running down the football field and turned to my friends and remarked on his beautiful brown, curly hair,’ she said.
The pair had similar friends and would often catch each other’s eyes at the local dances which June attended every Friday night.
Then on her 21st birthday he finally asked her out ‘for a night at the movies’ and she hasn’t looked back since.
She was 21 and he was 25 when they were married.
‘I just remember my dad standing in front of me, ready to give me away – and just crying. ‘My little baby’ he said as I stood their in the dress my mum made for the day,’ she said.
The couple had five children together and ‘worked hard to build a strong relationship’ based on honesty, ‘give and take’ and flexibility
But the rest of the day was a blur.
‘Then we went to The Entrance for out honeymoon and it was bliss,’ she said.
‘We were there for a week and when we came back all we had in the would was each other and ten pounds in our pockets.
‘But I didn’t care I had this six-foot tall football player with dreamy black eyes and the most beautiful curly dark hair, and the most beautiful nature,’ she said.
June is pictured her on her wedding day in a dress made for her by her mother
On the train to their honeymoon the young lovers were given advice which helped them throughout their 63 years of marriage, through financially difficult times and raising five children.
‘A widow on the train told us a great marriage is all about give and take, and she was right, we lived by her words,’ she said.
‘Give and take is everything – there has to be balance.’
June recalls her husband, who would go on to run his own plumbing business, being a very hands-on dad, especially for the time.
June is pictured here with her two daughters, she also has three sons, and say her husband was a ‘hands-on’ father which made their relationship stronger
She is pictured here in 1972 on a family holiday – she said she doesn’t regret a moment of her life because it was shared with a wonderful man
‘He would bath them and put them to bed, and in the middle of the night when they woke up it was him they called for,’ she said.
‘Then he taught our three boys to be plumbers, the kids all adore him, even now.’
She says this was a key part of ‘give and take’ and appreciating the things the other brought to the table.
She believed more marriages would be successful if men were to be more hands on around the house, and women more understanding if their helpful husbands are tired.
The couple used to spend all of their spare time with each other and loved gardening in their Turramurra home, they also joined the same social groups when their kids left home.
‘In one of our social groups he was the president and I was vice president, it was just wonderful,’ she said.
‘I look back at our life together with no regret, even though we had tough times I was just so fortunate to go through them with him by my side,’ she said.
She now lives in the Whiddon nursing home, a community she joined with her husband before he died.
She is now part of the Whiddon cooking club – a group which provides her with love and support now she doesn’t have her husband
The men and women who live there have become her second family – and though she misses Rex dearly they help her pass the time.
This Valentine’s Day June has baked jam drop heart biscuits with the home’s cooking club – to share the love of the season.
She is still a romantic after living a life full of love and enjoys spreading the cheer.
June says she will never forget how special it felt ‘just being near’ her husband.
As well as give and take June says there must always be flexibility and honesty within any good relationship.
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