By Paul Dunlop
TOM and Val Lewis met while picking peas. Sixty years later, they’re still like two peas in a pod.
“They were engaged three weeks after they met and both knew straight away that they wanted to marry,” daughter Lyn said of her parents.
The Pakenham pair will celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary tomorrow ( Thursday).
They have five “wonderful” children, Val said, as well as 14 grandchildren and nine greatgrandchildren.
Tom and Val grew up in Tynong North and were working at Downer’s pea paddock when they met. Jobs were hard to come by in the 1940s, especially for girls, and so it was a matter of taking what was available.
Each Tuesday and Saturday nights they would travel to Pakenham to see the movies. Quite often, Tom would dink Val on his bike if hers was out of action.
Tom played cricket for Nar Nar Goon and Tynong and still loves to watch the game.
The pair plans to celebrate their anniversary with family on Sunday.