65 years into a loving and fruitful marriage, Wellington Manor Retirement Village residents Keith and Doreen Crookston both say that they “wouldn’t change a thing”.
The pair were just teenagers when they first met in their hometown of Nambour, located 100km north of Brisbane in the Sunshine Coast hinterlands.
“One night, I went to the pictures with my brother and his mate Keith was there and we were both quite interested in each other right away,” Doreen says.
For both of the young sweethearts, that was that.
Though the relationship had a somewhat tumultuous beginning – “we used to fight and argue with each other all the time” – the couple were married after just one year and have been completely devoted ever since.
“My brother wasn’t very happy because I was taking his friend away, but he came around and they’re still very good friends to this day,” Doreen says.
After their marriage, the couple bought a fruit farm in the local area, where they welcomed their son Ken before moving to Brisbane in the late 1960s.
Keith worked as a crane driver while Doreen raised Ken, and the pair even found the time to open their home and their hearts to a string of exchange students over the years.
With stays ranging from several months to seven years, each visitor quickly became part of the family, and one has even become a daughter-in-law after marrying Ken in 1994.
“She’s a wonderful daughter-in-law – they’re very happy together,” Doreen says.
In 2004, Doreen and Keith left their West End home of 38 years and moved to Birkdale’s Wellington Manor Retirement Village, which both cite as “the best move we ever made”.
They have developed close relationships with their fellow residents and neighbours, who gathered to help them celebrate the milestone wedding anniversary with an afternoon tea last Wednesday.
“It was lovely, thanks to our neighbours,” Doreen says.
For both Keith and Doreen, it was the perfect way to celebrate the relationships they have formed and the life they have built together as a couple.
“It has been 65 very, very good years,” they agree. Keith and Doreen on their wedding day in 1950
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