In the dance of life, Robert and Maureen Furguson are akin to a waltz, in step with one another, following each other’s move in ease and precision.
On August 8, friends and family of Robert and Maureen gathered at the Kyabram Club to celebrate the couple's diamond wedding anniversary.
Sixty years earlier, Robert and Maureen stood before a minister in the courthouse – a simple ceremony that marked the beginning of their lifelong journey together.
Over the next six decades they would build long-lasting friendships, create a family, move from the coast into a cosy town called Kyabram and have the time of their lives doing it side by side.
Their story began in Rosebud – a bustling seaside town on Victoria's picturesque Mornington Peninsula.
It’s where Maureen was born on April 25, 1936, and grew up with a love for dance.
Five years later, Robert started his life in Murchison, born November 6 1941, and he would move with his family to Stanhope where he would work on a dairy farm before moving to Rosebud to live.
Robert had admired Maureen from afar, spotting her a few doors down the street, but hadn't yet mustered the courage to speak to her.
When he walked into a café and spotted her from the doorway, he decided it was time to ask her out.
When Robert asked her out, he said that Maureen insisted on doing the one thing she loved as a date – dancing.
From there they engaged in the relationship dance, waltzing their way through the Rosebud social life, getting to know one another, leaning on one another, until Robert decided to drop to one knee and propose.
Robert said neither of them had much money at that time, and he didn’t have job – so they decided to elope at the courthouse on August 8 1964.
The pair began living together in Rosebud, having their three children in the seaside town.
Linda and Tracey were born in their home in 1964 and 1965 respectively, while their youngest a boy named Shane had a slightly more unorthodox birthing story.
“We had him in a taxi,” Robert laughed.
“Maureen was overdue, so we had to get her to the hospital, and she popped right then and there.”
After the unusual birth of Shane in 1966, the pair decided their family unit was complete, and raised their children in Rosebud before the pair moved back to Robert’s hometown in Stanhope in 2007.
They bought the house that Robert grew up in from housing commission and lived in it for 16 years until Maureen’s dementia worsened.
Robert and Maureen both went into Warramunda Aged Care last year when Robert said they both enjoy the facilities and the care they receive.
Robert said it was hard leaving behind his house - which is now in the safe hands of their son Shane – but that it was all worth it to stick beside Maureen.
“(The dementia) it’s a bit hard on me – it takes a bit out of me,” Robert said.
“But she couldn’t get rid of me if she tried.”
On August 8, surrounded by friends and family Maureen and Robert cut the cake that commemorated their 60th year together, a symbol of their love that is just as, if not, sweeter.
While they don’t dance any more, with Maureen relying on a walking frame and Robert a stick, their hearts remain perfectly in step.
Robert said he looked forward to tomorrow the same as he looked forward to the next anniversary because any day is special when he is with Maureen.