Diamonds in each of their 60 years together

Betty Bissett wanted to get a card for her husband Bob to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary but, because the milestone was so rare, she couldn't find one.

"There aren't very many of them," she laughed.

But she more than made up for it with the super-sized chocolate cake she had delivered to Aspen Rest Home, where he resides.

The couple, who moved to Tauranga from Scotland 45 years ago and have been Bay of Plenty Times readers for nearly as long, celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary yesterday at a morning tea with family and friends.

Before they cut the cake, daughter Caroline Paterson read them a poem and presented them each with a framed photograph of their 1952 wedding day, while bagpipes and songs by Glasgow-born musician Andy Stewart played over the stereo.

Mr Bissett, 88, and Mrs Bissett, 83, met at a dance in Bishopbriggs, north of Glasgow, where they were both living.

"That's what you did in those days," Mrs Bissett said. "He seemed very polite. He asked if I had a boyfriend. I thought he was a bit old - he was 24 and I was 19."

"He asked me to dance and I'm very glad he did. He's been a good husband," Mrs Bissett said.

Mr Bissett said: "I just saw her sitting down there on her own. I went and picked her up and that was the start."

They dated for four years before he popped the question, although neither can remember the details of the proposal.

"I don't know if it was anything formal. It was more accepted after we got together for a long while," Mrs Bissett said.

She recalled borrowing her father's car to drive out of town in search of eggs for their three-tier wedding cake.

"There were no eggs around ... we had to go around the farms."

Mr Bissett, who suffered a stroke seven years ago, moved into Aspen Rest Home about a year ago when Mrs Bissett, who lives independently in Cherrywood, was taken ill.

Every Thursday the couple catch a bus to a cafe at the Mount where they have a toasted sandwich together. Mr Bissett said he "wouldn't have a clue" what the secret was to a long marriage, but he and his wife got on well because they liked the same things.

"We always got on pretty well, Mrs Bissett agreed. "He's a very placid man, more placid than me."

Mr Bissett said his wife was "always beautiful".

So did he consider himself a lucky man? "She's a lucky woman," he laughed.