David and Kathleen Newcombe's relationship started nearly 70 years ago with a tossed tomato.
The couple, who celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary yesterday, were working at neighbouring grocery stores in Leicester when they met in 1944.
David, 86, said: "Before we started courting we worked next door to each other and one day Kathleen's boss was having a chat with my boss in the back yard.
"I was being cheeky and went out there to listen in and I saw Kathleen listening in, too.
"So I picked up a tomato, winked at her and threw the tomato right at her and hit her.
"That started our slow courtship."
The couple, who live in Cumberland Road, Wigston, spent the next few years apart as David went away to work for the Merchant Navy.
He said: "I was away until 1947 but we wrote to each other all the time I was away.
"I was in the Indian Ocean when we got engaged. I wrote and asked my mother to take her out and get her fitted for a ring."
The couple married at St Mary's Church, Anstey, on July 3, 1948, and now have four sons, 10 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
The couple will be celebrating their big day with a party at their home and have just got back from marking their anniversary with a holiday in Torquay.
