Peterborough couple celebrate diamond wedding anniversary with doorstep visit from family

Brenda (79) and Rocco (82) Mastrullo celebrated 60 years of marriage on Thursday and were able to speak to their family from a distance as they brought round a specially cooked meal for the couple to share.

A big celebration of the whole family was planned but that will have to wait due to the current restrictions.

Brenda and Rocco love having their family close Christmas celebrations regularly seeing 40 people crowding into their home in Walton.

The couple were married on Saturday February 11, 1961 at St Peter and All Souls Roman Catholic Church after first meeting less than a year earlier as work colleagues.

Brenda said: “It was a beautiful day, I remember the sun was shining and we had all our family there beside us.

“We met while working at Perkins, I was in planning and Rocky was on the shop floor below where I was. I remember seeing him go over and speak to my day every day, he also worked there, but on March 24 1960, I still remember the date, he came over and asked me if I would go out with him and here we are all those years later.”

Rocky asked Brenda out the following year after returning from tours of Cyprus and Germany as part of his military service and both families welcomed the other’s new partner with open arms, something that was not always the case at the time.

Rocky’s family are of Italian descent.

His father first arrived in England during the Second World War as a prisoner of war and was made to work the land on a local farm.

Following the end of the war, the owner of the farm offered him employment and eventually, Rocky, 11 years old at the time, and his mother emigrated over without being able to speak a word of English.

There were family friends who insisted that he should get married to an Italian girl instead but Rocky knew Brenda was the only woman for him and his parents supported the decision.

They have gone on to have many happy memories together, not least the birth of their three daughters Cathleen, Julia and Maria and they now are proud grandparents and great grandparents.

They have also opened their doors for many years to foster children and have played a hand in helping a number of children make a fresh start in life.

Brenda added: “We are such a close-knit family and family is something that always comes first for us. So much of our time is usually taken up with by them and that is why the current situation is so hard but we carry on the best we can, it’s all we can do. 
“We’ve fostered a number of children in the past. It was something my mum and dad always did and in fact they received an invite to the Queen’s royal garden party for their service.

“It was quite a handful at times, we looked after a baby boy for 7 or 8 months and other times we took in older children that hadn’t had a good start in life. That was quite eye-opening because they were older than our children so we were learning as we went along as we didn’t have any experience of raising older children.

“We always did our best for every child, tried to give them a good home and we hope that has gone on to benefit them in later life.”

Brenda and Rocky received their commemorative card from the queen on Thursday and now can’t wait for the moment when they can celebrate with their whole family around and look forward to many more years together.

The secret, according to Brenda: “We’ve always had our ups and downs, like everyone else, but our love and support for each other has kept us going strong for all these years.”