ALAN and Mary Kennedy’s love is still going strong after 60 years of marriage.
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The Eaglehawk couple celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary last week and reminisced about the night they first met.
It wasn’t quite love at first sight, but Mrs Kennedy admits her husband caught her eye and, later, swept her off her feet.
“I was working in Portland and Alan came down from Cardross – he used to play football,” Mrs Kennedy said.
“He came down to go to the footballers’ ball and I had a friend in Portland and she rang me asking me to go to the ball.
“I didn’t really want to go but she talked me into it and that’s where we met.
“He walked me home that night.”
The couple’s love blossomed despite a long-distance relationship and Mr Kennedy ended up moving from Cardross, near Mildura, to Portland.
“Then in a couple of years’ time we shifted to Newbridge and got married in the Presbyterian Church in Bendigo on January 2, 1963,” Mrs Kennedy said.
“Then we shifted to Hamilton and Alan worked there for about five years.
“We had two children while we were there and then we shifted back to Newbridge and worked with the tomatoes and milked cows and so forth.
“And then we had another child.”
The couple’s three children – Maureen, Cliff and Alan – all live in central Victoria.
“We’ve got eight grandchildren and eight great grandchildren,” Mrs Kennedy said.
“And the ninth great one is coming along.
“They keep us busy.”
The Kennedys are both in their 80s and said the secret to a happy marriage was patience and perseverance.
Mrs Kennedy said they had both shared a love of carpet bowls.
“We played carpet bowls for many years,” she said.
“I still play – Alan doesn’t now, he’s on oxygen, he’s not very well and can’t get around much.
“But he played for a long time. We used to do that together and take the grandkids sometimes.”
Mrs Kennedy said the pair had never really had any major arguments over the years and her husband was her one and only love.
“He was my only boyfriend,” she said. “I’ve never loved anyone else and I’ve been true all my married life.”