The Wagga couple, who today celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary, have dedicated much of their lives to caring for children with profound disabilities and serious medical conditions.

Diane and Nick, who have two biological daughters and one son, have fostered more than 40 children in almost 40 years.

They have spent most of their married lives in Wagga and West Wyalong after meeting in a Bega pub as teenagers one night in the summer of 1969.

"I beat him playing pool. He didn't like that much, but he asked me out and I thought he was pretty good," Diane said.

"He's always there for me and I'm always there for him."

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Diane lost both her mother and father when she was a teenager, while Nick grew up coming to terms with own parents' pain, after they fled Ukraine for Australia during Russian Soviet occupation.

Despite these hardships, Nick and Diane have shown nothing but love and generosity to dozens of children, many of whom have required constant care and some of whom have been terminally ill.

"I think it was in me to do this. Even when I was a little girl I used to wrap up my teddy bears and fix them up and take them for walks," Diane said.

"You can't actually foster or even adopt these kids unless you're willing to love them. And if you love them, it hurts when they go."

Diane and Nick were living in Shepparton in "a big house, with plenty of room and lots of love" when they first decided to become foster parents, which then led to adopting three of the many children they cared for.

The couple's beloved adopted son Noah died when he was only 12-years-old, while little foster son Dustan had a seizure at the age of seven and never woke up.

"They go one way or the other. They either go into a group home or back to their parents or they pass away," Diane said.

"You're doing something you know isn't going to be forever. It's heart-breaking. You just have to think of all the good times you give the children."

Nick agreed, saying if he had his time over he wouldn't do anything differently.

"We've had more headaches and heartaches than most people have because of what we do. But it's been rewarding," he said.

Nick and Diane celebrated with their three adult children, John, Marie and Rebecca, adopted daughter Amanda, adopted son Riley, their current foster girl, and most of their 12 grandchildren and six great grandchildren.