By NATALIE GALLENTI
YEARS apart could not sway Stanko Brekalo’s devotion to a young Sofija.
It was love at first sight for the pair who only had to see each other once at a chance meeting to know that this was the person they would share the rest of their life with.
The young sweethearts would then spend the next two years writing letters to each other while Stanko served in the army.
Now, 50 years on and continents away from that very first meeting, the Sunshine couple are still very much in love.
Married on 20 October 1963 in Croatia, Stanko and Sofija migrated to Australia in 1968 with their eldest children Milena and Robert in search of a better life, and they found one.
After settling in Footscray with relatives they had two more children, Elvis and Frankie and in time became the proud grandparents to a granddaughter and four grandsons.
This weekend the whole family will celebrate the pair’s golden wedding anniversary.
So what is the secret to a successful and lasting union?
“You need to zip it,” Sofija laughed.
“No, you have to communicate and listen to each other and remember no one is perfect but if you’re committed to each other it will work.”
“When the honeymoon is over, it’s real life and you have to work out the problems,” Stanko added.
Both agreed what matters most in any marriage is raising a happy and healthy family.
“That is what is the most important thing, without that you have nothing.”
