Cyril Dempsey's brown jacket is what has kept wife Audrey interested for 72 years. That was the 93-year-old man's answer when quizzed about his long-lasting marriage.
Mr and Mrs Dempsey are celebrating their 72nd anniversary today.
The couple met at a dance in Kaponga, Taranaki in the early 1940s. "He was a good dancer," Mrs Dempsey said. Her husband felt the same way. "I just really liked him."
"You also really liked my brown jacket," Mr Dempsey chuckled. "You always have."
The couple remembered having to bike about 32km to get to the dances.
"And the ladies used to get their skirts caught in the wheels," Mrs Dempsey said.
Falling madly in love, the couple married in 1945 and moved to Tokoroa.
Mr and Mrs Dempsey lived and worked on a dairy farm, where they raised their four children - Kevin, 70, Athol, 68, Della, 67, and Gavin, 65.
The couple moved to Mount Maunganui about 25 years ago, before recently moving to Somervale Retirement Village where they now live.
The pair share a love for outdoor bowls, which Mr Dempsey proved to be particularly good at. They often travelled to Norfolk Island where Mr Dempsey competed in outdoor bowls.
A line of trophies filled the top of a cabinet in the couple's lounge.
"He was also a very good snooker player," Mrs Dempsey said. "He wasn't home much."
She suggested perhaps that was the secret to the couple's 72-year marriage.
Their advice for a long-lasting marriage was to "just be yourself".
"And work hard," Mrs Dempsey said. "We've always stuck together."
The pair have no plans for celebrating their 72nd anniversary after "a big celebration" for their 70th anniversary and a family reunion at Tauranga RSA for their 90th birthdays.