Taking time to appreciate your partner shouldn’t just happen on Valentine’s Day, reminds one Regina couple who’ve been married for more than half a century.
Roy and Alice Ohashi first met within the city’s Japanese community when they were kids in the 1930s. While they always hung around each other growing up, neither thought they’d one day spend the rest of their lives together.
Alice said she’ll never forget her wedding day — May 21, 1956.
“It rained in the morning, which traditionally is a lucky sign because when you get married, it’s like planting a tree and you need the rain to make it grow,” she explained, adding it could have helped their marriage flourish.
On the other hand, Roy believes it all comes down to hard work.
“There’s no luck in a marriage, it’s what you make,” he said.
Alice added she doesn’t believe there’s a single secret to a long-lasting relationship.
“No matter what happens, somehow you work out the problems and you stay together,” the 84-year-old explained. “You just need to trust in each other, that’s important.”
When it comes to true love, she said it’s best to first look within oneself.
“I think you have to know in your own heart what you’re looking for,” said Alice.
After spending half their lives raising a family of four and making a living, the couple in their mid-80s said they now spend time ballroom dancing, travelling and playing word games.
In the past, Alice said on Valentine’s Day she’s made a special meal and a cake, but this year the couple doesn’t have anything planned.
However, Roy said he’ll be accompanying his wife to her hearing test because in their world “it’s Valentine’s Day every day.”