Very few people these days reach the 77th marriage milestone, but Mary and Albert Phillips have done just that, celebrating it together at Baillie House.
The happy couple sat in their room holding hands as cards and flowers were dropped off to mark the occasion.
Mary and Albert were 19 and 20 years old respectively when they were married on July 19, 1941. Since then, they have spent 28,105 days together and counting.
Mary (Johnson) was born at Vancouver General Hospital on March 4, 1922. She was an only child and grew up in Vancouver.
Charles Albert Phillips was born on September 1920 in Alberta. His mother was only three years old when she came to Canada from Missouri by wagon. But when Albert turned one, he started having health problems.
“I used to turn blue on one side because of the altitude,” he explained.
So his family moved to British Columbia, settling in Abbotsford.
Albert met Mary six months before they were married. He had a job painting houses and his boss lived next door to her family in Vancouver.
The couple remembers going on dates all the way east to Chilliwack. Their first date was a scenic drive along a dike and the car got stuck.
“She was out helping to push and that didn’t work so she had to learn to drive while I pushed,” explained Albert.
“I had never driven before and he had me steering the darn car,” laughed Mary.
“Big trips to go to Chilliwack,” noted Albert.
Mary and Albert got married in a garden wedding in Vancouver. They honeymooned in Likely, B.C., north of Williams Lake, where Albert’s grandmother lived.
“We got there at 9 o’clock at night. Everyone was in bed asleep. So we woke the family up and told them we were on our honeymoon,” said Albert.
His grandmother gave the newlyweds a shot of her homemade dandelion wine each for a toast.
“She passed out,” said Albert, pointing at Mary smiling beside him in her wheelchair.
“It was powerful stuff,” Albert continued.
“I only had a couple of sips because I don’t drink,” explained Mary.
“She gave me a little bit and I couldn’t walk,” Mary chuckled.
Albert’s uncle had built a brand new cabin on the property and the couple were told they could honeymoon there.
“It had a basement and it was full of groceries. A bed and everything was in the house,” smiled Albert.
Mary and Albert lived in Vancouver where they raised their four children, three girls and one boy.
In 1970, Mary and Albert decided to move to Bridge Lake, in the Cariboo, where Albert got a job working for the highways department. They lived there until 2016 when it was decided they needed extra care. First they moved to Maple Ridge to be with their son and daughter-in-law and then to Vancouver where their daughter lived.
But then Mary became ill.
She spent five weeks in Vancouver General Hospital with sepsis, pneumonia and during that time had a mild heart attack. When Mary was discharged she was bedridden.
Mary and Albert moved into their son’s home in Maple Ridge but Mary required much more care than before. Linda and Ron had care aides coming to the house three times a day, they also had a hospital bed and a lift installed. So they put her on a list for residential care. Five weeks later they got a call saying there was a bed available for Mary at Baillie House.
However, Albert did not qualify.
The couple was separated.
“They were devastated to be separated,” said Linda, adding that it was the first time in their lives they were forced to live apart.
That didn’t stop Albert. Every day, starting last year from November, Albert would go and sit by Mary’s side in Baillie House until he qualified to move in with her on Dec. 21.
“I used to bring him over here in the morning. and he would sit with her all day,” said Linda, who would pack him his lunch for the day.
“My husband would pick him up and bring him home for dinner,” she said, adding that he went in every single day.
Now, they both live together again in a single room at Baillie House. And Albert still gets to indulge in a daily rye and ginger.
The secret to their long-lasting marriage, the couple says is being able to give and take and never fighting about anything.
“We’ve never had a fight yet,” said Albert.
“That’s unusual, I guess,” piped in Mary.
“Just get along,” shrugged Albert, looking over at Mary.
Asked by staff at the care home if Mary is the one in charge in the relationship.
”Oh yeah,” Albert readily answered.
Mary and Albert have four children, 11 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.
