FOR schoolteacher Paul Robinson it was “love at first sight, second sight and all the rest”.
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Wife Alida says, “He grew on me. Now I can’t imagine life without him.”
Alida Ligtermoet was managing a retail store when they met.
“Paul came in to buy a pair of jeans and got more than he bargained for. He had a girlfriend on his arm, but not for long. We still debate whether I sold him a pair of jeans or that he bought them.”
On their third date Paul said he wanted to marry Alida.
“We had known each other less than a week so I thought he was joking. We talked about it while we were on a hiking trip in the Grampians.
“He formally asked again over dinner at Pisces Restaurant in Hawthorn. It was my birthday and we gave each other rings – a Dutch custom – and wore them until our wedding day, when we took them off and exchanged them again during the ceremony. We had known each other 11 months.”
They were married on May 16, 1981 at Tecoma in the Dandenong Ranges.
Alida arrived at the church the customary 10 minutes late, only to be waved on as Paul was not there. “We went around the block a couple of times. He finally turned up saying that some of our guests had got lost and he had to go rescue them.
“We do most things together. The only thing Paul does not like to do is shop. He hates the ‘just looking’ stuff. He prefers to shop when he can spend.”
In 1988 they were part of the Great Australian Camel Race from Ayers Rock to the Gold Coast. The following year they trekked camels from the Murray River to Kingston in South Australia and later along the Oodnadatta Track. In 1990 they travelled around Australia mainly through WA.
Both believe marriage is for life. “We’ve had our ups and downs but life is never dull. We have four wonderful children: Alistair, Kerry, Lindsay and Michelle. We know that God is good and He keeps watch over us. You can’t ask for better than that.”