Happy together: Four couples strike gold, hit major milestone
Four couples are celebrating five decades of marriage, but that’s not the only thing these sweet pairs share in common.
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Nothing feels quite as nice as being in love and four Toowoomba couples have been falling deeper every day, for the past 50 years.
Joe and Carol Chalmers, Bruce and Margaret Stewart, Graham and Kay Bretz and George and Chris Green will each celebrate five decades of marriage on Saturday.
“The secret to a successful marriage is to honour the promises and commitments you make to each other,” Mr Green said.
“We’ve been together for 50 years, which is much longer than we individually spent living with our parents and siblings, so it’s quite a significant milestone when you think about it.”
But it’s not just the special milestone’s date that the four couples have in common.
They are all part of the Toowoomba Parkinson’s Group and one partner in each pairing has been diagnosed with the nervous system disorder.
“Everyone should try and make the most out of life,” Ms Chalmers said.
“But when a chronic disease impedes your life, it really makes you want to live by the mantra of enjoying and being grateful for every day.”
Meeting at a Toowoomba disco in 1970, Carol couldn’t help but laugh when she spotted Joe arrive on crutches with a broken ankle.
She said her husband’s caring nature had always impressed her, while Joe loves his wife’s cooking skills.
Working as a teacher at the time, Margaret first crossed paths with Bruce, who worked at the Department of Primary Industries, at a Rural Youth meeting.
The pair found common ground in interests like tennis and their country backgrounds.
Supporting each other through Margaret’s breast cancer and Bruce’s Parkinson’s diagnoses, has only strengthened the couple’s relationship.
Graham and Kay Bretz were set up on a blind date, which almost never happened, as Kay was working on nightshift as a nurse at St Vincent’s Hospital.
After some encouragement from colleagues to go, Kay agreed and they haven’t looked back since.
While Graham said the honeymoon phase never ended for him, Kay said marriage is full of ups and downs, but you’ll make it work if you want it enough.
The pair agreed they are each other’s best mates.
Meeting in Africa through Chris’s brother-in-law, George said he was hooked when his now wife wore a pink bikini on a beach trip.
After their initial meeting, the pair went camping with friends and connected through their similar tastes in classical music.
Going right out of his depth, the pair grabbed some airbeds and went floating on a lake, despite George not being able to swim – something Chris later taught him how to do.
Now acting as Chris’s full-time carer, George said “if the shoe was on the other foot, she would do the same.”
But Chris begged to differ and noted she didn’t think she’d be able to lift him.
The four couples are set to celebrate their special day by going out to lunch together as a group and separately with their families at a later date.
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Originally published as Happy together: Four couples strike gold, hit major milestone
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