Stevie Wonder’s 1984 bestseller “I Just Called To Say I Love You” could have been written for Spalding couple Dave (80) and Jean Allen (79).
The gardening and fly fishing couple never forget to remind each other of their undying love for each other, exactly 60 years after they became husband and wife at St Paul’s Church, Fulney, in Spalding.
Jean said: “I was 15 years and 11 months old when Dave first started courting me.
“My sister had a snack bar in Holbeach where I used to help her and, at the time, Dave was going out with someone else.
“But eventually we got together and, apart from hospital visits, we’ve never, ever been split up.”
Dave, ex-manager of the former Visionhire/Granada TV store in Station Street, Spalding, for 40 years, said: “The first Christmas we were together, I asked Jean to marry me but we had to wait until I finished my National Service in February 1957.
“We got married in March 1957 and one of the things we’ve always done since then is to say ‘I love you’ to each other, not just once but two or three times a day.”
Jean added: “We do everything together and we’re always busy in the garden.”
Dave and Jean intend to have a quiet anniversary day before their three children, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren join them for a family get-together on Saturday.
But there might also be time for a trip to West Deeping’s Kingfisher Fly Fishing Club where Dave is secretary/treasurer.
Jean said: “I didn’t fish at first but then Dave took me with him to the club when I was 60.
“It took me a year to learn how to fly fish and when I did, our son said ‘other women who are 60 start knitting and crocheting, but my mum starts fly fishing’.”