Love is in the air at Ratheane!
1st December 2017
Ewart & Hazel Toms celebrate their 55th Wedding Anniversary
Ratheane Nursing Home, Coleraine, was filled with love on 29th November 2017. Resident Ewart and his wife Hazel Toms celebrated their emerald wedding anniversary with staff, family and friends attending for an evening of tea, cake and laughter.
Ewart and Hazel met when they were just 16 at the Boathouse Dance Hall which is now the Water Margin chinese restaurant. Ewart asked Hazel to dance and when the night was over they reluctantly went their separate ways – Hazel went home over the bridge and Ewart went back to Portstewart.
Quite some time went by where they didn’t see each other – there were no mobile phones to keep in contact back in those days, but the absence made the heart grow fonder. They finally met up again at another dance and Ewart wasted no time in asking Hazel out to the cinema.
When asked about their first date, Hazel was quick to say, ‘It was fantastic, I will never forget it. Ewart paid of course, no girls paid back in those days!’
The happy couple then ‘courted’ for two years and got engaged and happily married at the age of 19. They have lived a long and happy life and had two son’s and two daughters, they are now the proud grandparents of 5 grandchildren also.
When asked for the secret of their 55 year long marriage, Ewart said with a big smile, ‘The secret to a happy marriage is give and take.’