Recently two local couples marked a special day. They were both married on the same day in opposite parts of the world, yet they are now friends and neighbors here on the south coast of Australia. Both couples were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on March 25th.
One couple met in Nottingham, England. Shirley worked at the time as a typist whole Tony worked on a building site. He used to see her each morning at morning tea time. When he told his mates that was the girl he was going to marry, they laughed at him. Three months later they became engaged and a month later they married. They immigrated to Australia in 1967 along with their son and settled in the South coast of NSW in 1993. Despite the fact Shirley has suffered Tony still says ‘My Shirl is still a cracker.’ Translation for non Aussies, means ‘she’s great!’ And she thinks he’s pretty good too.
The other couple Duncan and Patricia married in suburban Sydney on the same date, March 25, 1961. They met first at school, then later at the movies. They took longer about their engagement. It was three years before they became engaged. They married and years later moved to the South Coast too. At one stage Duncan worked as a postman in the Culburra area, until he retired in 1991 to take on the role of fulltime carer for Patricia who had suffered a severe stroke.
These two couples look as happy and in love with each other as they did back on the wedding day. It’s lovely to see people who have stuck together and still care for each other despite hardships and adversities which both couples have had over the years. One of the two couples has an intellectually disabled son and that can often put extra pressures on a relationship. Basically I just wanted to share with you the example of these two couples with marriages that have withstood the test of time and the pressures of life and come through them together.
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