It really was love at first sight when John first laid eyes on Doris at a dance in Werribee.
“He said to his friends as soon as he saw me, ‘That’s the girl I’m going to marry’,” Doris Gallenti said. “He came up to me and we danced all night.”
It was 1963 and Doris was aged just 15 and John 20.
John used to drive from Albion to Richmond to take Doris out to lunch while she worked at the Kaiser factory as a teenager.
“In secret – my dad didn’t know, he was so strict,” Doris said. “He [John] used to drive me home, but he’d have to drop me off up the street.”
John asked Doris’ father for her hand in marriage in 1966 and they wed at Our Lady’s Catholic Church in Sunshine later the same year. A reception for 200 friends and family followed at Kensington town hall.
The Albion couple have three daughters and seven grandchildren.
“Our family is everything,” Doris said.
On December 10, they’ll celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.
Doris said the key to a happy marriage was listening.
“It’s no use quarrelling and not talking for days,” she said. “Just talk to each other.”
