WHEN Edward Arneson spotted Janet Pretty on the Richmond Golf Course in 1959 he knew he had to meet her.
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Now the two are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on November 28.
Mr Arneson was stationed at Richmond RAAF Base when he first saw Miss Pretty.
She was an avid golfer who was, and still is, "much better at golf" than her husband.
The two started dating but shortly after Mr Arneson was posted to Williamtown RAAF Base.
"I used to drive, in my old 1954 Morris Minor, down the old Pacific Highway, through Swansea, Wyong, Gosford and Hornsby to visit her at Richmond," he said.
"It used to average around four-and-a-half hours driving time."
Luckily distance makes the heart grow fonder because Mr Arneson was then posted to serve in Malaya in 1961 and stayed for two years.
"They did well from the postage stamps sales and the occasional telephone call," he said.
On Mr Arneson's return in July 1963 the two were engaged and married on November 28, 1964, at St Peter's Anglican Church at Richmond.
"Our honeymoon was a caravan trip to Brisbane and back," he said.
The couple have a daughter, Bronwyn, born in 1972.
They have lived at Richmond, Raymond Terrace, Amberley, Warwick Farm and North Richmond, before settling at Brandy Hill in 2002. The Examiner would like to say a big happy 50th wedding anniversary to Mrs Arneson, who had no idea her husband dobbed her in to the newspaper.