By JODIE SYMONDS
JUST five decades ago, Bill Symonds plucked up the courage to kiss Jan Kudrycki in the middle of a cow paddock, where they fell madly in love with each other.
On 21 November Bill and Jan Symonds celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.
The couple met not long after Jan had moved to Hoddles Creek from Healesville, both working on a dairy farm at the time, Bill introduced himself.
“I was 14 and a half, and Bill would have been 18,” Jan said.
“I thought he was really good looking, so Mum invited him in for a cup of tea,”
Jan said she didn’t realise how she felt about him until they shared their first kiss while feeding cows in the middle of a paddock, at that point they fell madly in love with each other.
“We had to see each other all of the time, there was just that spark,” Jan said.
“I gave her a kiss and she melted,” Bill said.
On 21 November 1964, they exchanged vows at a Warburton Catholic Church while Jan was pregnant with their first son, Peter.
They said Father Cereni gave them the secret to a happy marriage.
“Father Cereni was a great man, and he said to me, son, there’s only two things in life, give and take,” Bill said.
“So it’s all about friendliness, but most of all, family.”
The couple went on to own the Tin Shed, now known as Launch Fresh in Launching Place and then the Woori Yallock Fruit Shop.
Both have lived in the Yarra Valley for over 60 years, and are unable to walk down the street without running into someone they know.
When asked if they love each other as much as when they first met, Bill said he told her everyday how much he loved her.
“I have loved Jan from the day I met her,” Bill said.
“She gave me four good kids and six great grand kids, all of them different in their own ways,
“24 hours of the day we’re together.”
Jan laughed and said he’s a bit rough around the edges nowadays.
In sickness and in health, they’ve spent every moment together, through pushing their broken down Volkswagen Beetle down the hill past French’s Laundry in Healesville, to playing the pokies since they opened 20 years ago, they haven’t loved each other any less.
“We’re just happy to be here after 50 years and to enjoy the family and lifestyle of the modern day,” Bill said.
Happy 50th wedding anniversary, Nana and Grandpa.
