Salina ? Frances Turner jokes that her husband, Robert, has two left feet when he takes his skates off.

With four wheels under each foot, though, he’s steady — even graceful. So is Frances.

After seeing them on the skating rink it’s obvious that they’ve had a lot of practice.

“We’ve both skated all our lives,” said Frances, 73, of Marion.

Yes, it’s true that as they’ve gotten older, neither of them is able to do as many of the tricks and dances as they used to. That doesn’t matter, though.

“We still roller,” Robert, 76, said.

Indeed, they do.

Every Saturday, the couple drive about an hour to skate at Starlite Skating Center in Salina.

They met at a skating rink more than 50 years ago.

Robert and Frances Turner, of Marion, skate together at Starlite Skating Center in Salina. The two met at a skating rink in Manhattan and have been skating together ever since. They drive almost an hour to Salina nearly every Saturday to skate, they said.

Frances was 15. Robert was 18. Both were on the floor for what was called “Bell Skate.” When the bell rang, the boy was supposed to pair up with the girl in front of him.

Fate matched Frances and Robert.

“I asked him what his name was and he said, ‘You can call me Lucky.'” Frances recalled, smiling. “I didn’t know his real name for a while.”

The two continued to see each other at the skating rink. At that time, Robert’s specialty was tricks. He could do all kinds of things. Frances could do just about every dance that was popular at the time on her skates.

They started dating when Frances got a bit older and then married in 1951.

The Turners have three children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Minus the natural signs of age, though, this Frances and Robert appear much younger.

They hold hands, and their feet move in synch when they skate. As they talk, Robert grabs for Frances’ hand. And he calls her “Frankie.”

The two laugh and chat, like they just met.

“We have fun together.”

Skating, of course, isn’t the only ingredient to a long, happy marriage.

Frances said young people needed to remember that being courteous was always important — even after 53 years of marriage.

“He still opens doors for me. He says ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ and he always compliments me on the food I prepare,” she said. “We communicate, and we have fun together.”

Part of that fun is skating.

The Turners have been to skating rinks all over the place. Since about 1988, though, they have been going to Starlite once a week.

They do more than “go round and round,” as Robert puts it.

“Skating is like dancing. You move to the beat of the music,” he said.

When they were younger, the rinks all had organ players. Now, though, the music comes from a disc jockey.

And, they don’t mind modern music.

As a song by rapper Eminem begins, Frances points out it has a “wonderful beat.”

“I like anything that has a good beat,” she said. “If it has a good beat, that’s all you need. You can’t do anything if there’s not a good point.”

Robert said he and Frances had taught so many children to skate that there’s just no way to remember them all.

At the rink on Saturday, Robert stopped several couples holding on to wobbly children to try to help.

“It’s all about balance,” he said.