THIS month my grandparents celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary.

Considering the average expected time spent married in a person's life is only 32 years, this is one mean feat.

People say there are all the pressures and stresses of everyday living to contend with and that circumstances make it hard to keep a marriage alive.

But you think back to all the circumstances and changes my grandparents have lived through and I can't see that as a valid excuse for divorce.

My Nanna and Papa were born into the Great Depression and experienced the effects of two world wars, keeping alive a long distance relationship. While my Papa was off fighting for his country, Nana was keeping the home fires burning and looking after the children.

They've seen travel go from horse and buggies, walking to school, to trains, planes and automobiles - even to man walking on the moon.

News and word from family was a letter in the mail and listening to an old radio. Now we have mobile phones, televisions and computers.

Food used to come from local farmers and factories; today you can eat fruit and vegies from anywhere in the world, picked and packaged yesterday.

My grandfather was a carpenter and saw many changes occur in his industry, building booms and slumps, and then went on to buy a timber and hardware store and adjusted to whatever life threw at him.

The one thing that remained constant was the love that they had for each other.

Now, in their twilight years, my grandparents still live in their own home, sometimes bicker like teenagers, playfully rib each other about their forgetfulness or loss of capabilities and can sit back and ponder two lives well lived.

All their family, my family, and friends will gather to pay tribute to their inspirational marriage and hopefully we can all learn a thing or two about true love.

Linda Coote, Barham