Love is still in the air at Kamloops Seniors Village

“She knitted me this beautiful Norwegian sweater and that sealed it,” Chris recalled. “From that moment on, we were together and we’ve had just an amazing life.”

Sixty-three years, three children, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren later, Chris says he’s still head over heels for his wife.

“It was love at first sight,” he said. “There was just something about her that made me realize she was the person I wanted.”

The couple met when Gina was 18 and visiting from Norway. Chris was 23, they were both staying at the same boarding house north of London, England.

Though Gina claims it wasn’t love at first sight for her, she did think Chris looked like Clark Gable in Gone with the Wind.

“I thought he looked so handsome, tall and skinny, and he was such a gentleman,” she told CFJC News. “I wasn’t used to young boys being quite so gallant looking.”

They were quickly engaged, but Gina’s parents didn’t think they would last when Gina went away to college in Norway.

“We only saw each other once in four years. We talked about once a year because it was so expensive, we couldn’t — and of course, there was no there was no Internet,” Chris said, adding they wrote letters to keep in touch. “But anyway, that was our life for four years and we never, never varied. We knew that that’s what we wanted.”

The pair got married in 1961 and moved to Canada shortly thereafter when Chris accepted a teaching job. They settled in North Vancouver with new challenges.

“We were so far away from family that we had nobody to help out, so we had to manage on our own,” said Gina.

But it wasn’t all bad, the pair says being forced to lean on each other really strengthened their relationship.

“I think that would be something that I would suggest is ideal for young couples,” said Chris. “They should start off rough, then get better as time goes along, and I think that that was the makings of us.”

When asked what advice they would give to new couples, the Roses agreed that communication and commitment never get old.

“You’ve chosen to live with a partner and I think it’s important that you share that good news as well as the bad news,” Chris said.

by Sydney Chisholm

Love is still in the air at Kamloops Seniors Village

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