At this Windsor couple's wedding, they paid 75 cents for each meal. Now, they're celebrating 75 years

Marg and Stan Scratch started dating in 1945 and three years later got married.

Fast forward to 2023 and the Windsor couple is celebrating their diamond anniversary 75 years.

Despite not wanting to do anything to mark the occasion, Marg says their one son took them out for Italian food to celebrate, but other than that it was "very quiet."

Marg says the key to their success for a lengthy marriage was finding someone she really got along with.

"We've always been very agreeable with each other," Scratch said. "We had our ups and downs, but nothing really serious."

"Really fortunate that we think alike and enjoy the same things. We used to ride bikes and go for long walks, and not everybody enjoys the same things in life."

Marg spoke with Windsor Morning host Nav Nanwa. Here's part of that conversation.

Take me back to 1948. How did you and your husband meet?

We actually went to the same high school, but we didn't start dating until after I was out of school.

He had got called up for the army, and then they never did call. It was in 1944 and the war was ending basically. He never did get called.

But he did go back to Walkerville about one year after that. But I started working right away.

We started dating that July in 1945.

What do you remember about your wedding day?

It was a beautiful day. We got married at Lincoln Road United Church. The weather was excellent.

We had dinner in the church basement. A turkey dinner in the church basement put on by the ladies was very nice. I'll tell you how much it cost me: 75 cents per person.

Do you remember what was on the menu?

We had turkey and stuffing and potatoes. They served pie for dessert and we had a wedding cake but that was baked. We had that later.

Because 75 years is obviously a very long time What are the secrets to a successful and long marriage?

I don't know that there's any secrets.

We both sort of grew up in the same area and we're a very ordinary family.

We just seemed to be really compatible, and we've always gotten along really well and we seemed to like to do the same things we were both very active.

We did a lot of walking. Stan played ball and we rode bikes, you know, all that kind of stuff.

Our kids always said they never really heard us fight.- Marg Scratch

I heard that the both of you like to also share a lot of laughs together.

That was one really good thing about it. We seemed to get along very well that way.

We had our ups and downs, of course, but they didn't last. Our kids always said they never really heard us fight.

It sounds like you married your best friend.

I would say that we're still good friends. We still get along really well. We really do.

We don't seem to have any problems at all. And we're slowing down, of course, like everybody else.

We are living a very quiet life now, but over the years, we enjoyed it. We did a lot of traveling road trips and we seemed to had four kids and nine grandchildren and ten great grandchildren.

How does that feel to see all those generations around you?

It feels great. That's what we enjoy seeing.

I never thought I'd live to see the day that I would hold a great grandchild, but it was really nice.

The kids are growing up and we're enjoying seeing them. We're glad to see them and glad to see them and go home.

When you tell people how long you and Stan have been married for 75 years, what's their reaction?

They find it hard to believe.

We told people that we saw last night and they just said, "What, that's unbelievable."

I said, "Well, yeah, but it's very true. We've been together all those years. We dated for a few before that and knew each other before that."

Describe to me just how different Windsor was back then to what it is now.

I always say we had the best years. We grew up with the best years raising children. The years were good. I find it so difficult now for parents. It must not be nearly as easy.

I quit work before my oldest was born, and I stayed home with my kids. I was lucky enough to do that. And I just don't envy these parents that have to work all day.

And it's a completely different world. We were one of the first people of all our friends to have a TV after we were married, and you knew everybody in the neighbourhood.

We always sat out on the porch and talked to people and it was just very a good life, I would say.

And if there's one moment in the last 75 years that really stands out in your mind, what was that moment with Stan?

Guess when we went on our trips or our 25th anniversary, we were lucky enough to go to Hawaii, which was wonderful. We enjoyed every minute of it.

For our 50th we went to it, got a cruise to Alaska, and we both enjoyed that. And those are the things you remember and the children, of course.

But as I say, when I held my first great grandchild, I found that really awesome that I was able to go to the hospital and hold him when he was just a day old, which they never would've allowed in my day.

But it was just a wonderful feeling.

Congratulations again on 75 years and here's to another 75.

Oh, well, I don't think I can handle that. No, that's OK.