Marriage is never perfect, but that’s what makes it wonderful.
For just shy of 60 years, Gilles and Aline Painchaud have been happily married.
They’ve raised a family, travelled the country, and continued to learn from one another.
“I don’t think there’s anything magic in it,” said Aline about making love last.
The Painchaud’s admit their marriage hasn’t been perfect.
They’ve faced trials and tribulations like every other couple, the only difference is they never gave up on each other.
“Nowadays it seems like something happens and you just split and that’s it. In those days, you just didn’t, you worked it out and stayed together,” Aline detailed.
Gilles added, “It’s not that there hasn’t been stuff, we just bring it back and keep working at it.”
Sitting in their living room in their home at the Villa Ouimet, the Painchaud’s described their love story, which started in 1958.
“I crashed her cousin’s wedding,” laughed Gilles.
The Painchaud’s have a photo album filled with memories from their years together.
Aline was a bridesmaid for her cousin, who was getting married in their small Manitoba community just 30 miles from where Gilles lived.
“That was way back in the days when we used to get dressed up on Saturday night to go and chase the girls. You’d wear a suit and polish your shoes, wear a tie,” detailed Gilles. “My brother and I went out there to scope the area, and we saw something going on at the hall. It was a wedding.”
Little did he know, their decision to slip into the wedding would be his first step towards his soulmate.
Gilles said he spotted Aline “looking gorgeous,” and said the rest is history.
“He looked good. He had black curly hair and blue eyes,” Aline said, adding his looks stood out because “most people at the time that had dark hair had dark eyes.”
“She was gorgeous, all dressed up. She’s still very good looking,” added Gilles.
They started dating shortly after, meeting at dances and going to shows.
On Sept. 19, 1959, they got married.
The ceremony was small, described Aline, because her aunt and uncle had recently passed away.
“Our daughter was born a year later, October 1960… We were living in Winnipeg at the time, and she was born in October. If you’ve ever been to Manitoba in the summertime, you would know it’s extremely hot. I thought, ‘I’m never carrying another child in the summer,’ so our son was born in 1963, and the other in 1965,” she continued.
Their daughter passed away a few years ago, while their sons have grown up and started families of their own.
In fact, Aline said, they have eight grandchildren in total, seven of which are boys.
The couple moved to Alberta in 1967. They lived in Leduc for a few years and have moved around the province quite a bit. At one point they sold their home, purchased a fifth wheel, and travelled, before eventually settling down in Bonnyville.
Aline points to a photograph of one of their homes together.
Gilles said if he had any advice, it would be learning the term ‘yes dear.’
“That’s what makes it work. Marriage isn’t perfect, but it can work if you work at it,” he expressed.
Through Gilles work, he often travelled, and was once sent to Vancouver, B.C. for human behaviour training.
“That’s where I learned we’re both category one (people). We both like to take charge. That creates a situation where we can butt heads a little bit. Once one person realizes this, they learn to back off a little, that’s where the ‘yes dear’ comes in,” he noted.
Aline said when they had first got married, she was very shy, but that changed over the years.
“I wasn’t forward about anything, but then I decided that no, that wasn’t a way to live. You have to hold your own.”
Regardless of the obstacles that come your way, the pair encourage couples to try to make it work.
“I’ve realized that when people start all over again, they’re right back into the same pot as they were in the first place, so if it didn’t work the first time, it won’t work the second,” explained Gilles.
While there’s no simple trick to making a marriage stand the test of time, it’s about the effort that’s put into your relationship that will make it last.
Gilles said, “You have to work at it.”
