As a teenager in a small coastal town in NSW in the early 70s, there were very few places to hang out with the opposite sex...except at the local movie theatre.
On a warm Saturday night in early autumn, when aged 15 years and 11 months, my parents dropped me and a girlfriend around the corner from the theatre to watch yet another second-rate western.
To our great delight two nice guys from school in the year above us were standing outside the theatre. Without needing any encouragement, the four of us started chatting.
The boys had tickets for the movie too, so we all walked in together - downstairs in the stalls of course!
Luckily for me, my girlfriend sat next to the guy I wasn't interested in, and I sat next to the better looking of the two - the tall guy with the deep voice, longish blond hair, olive sun-tanned skin and sparkling green eyes.
It was love at first sight!
We were married 4 years later; I was 19 and he was 20. Five and half years later our first child arrived, shortly followed by two more.
Now, after 47 happy years of marriage, we have retired in Victoria, to be close to our three married children and seven gorgeous 'grandies'.
Ever since that warm evening in 1973, my husband and I often return to the now, not-so-small, coastal town where we met. At every visit we stand outside the same movie theatre and reminisce about the night we met and fell head-over-heels in love.
That chance meeting resulted in a lifetime of happiness and the everlasting romance of two teenagers in love.
Attached photos:
1. High school sweethearts - 1974
2. Movie theatre - 1970s
3. Refurbished theatre - 2024
4. Still in love - February 2024