By CASEY NEILL
TED Poynton met his wife Shirley in her mother’s Maribyrnong lounge room.
His brother had been dating Shirley’s sister and both boys were in the home when Shirley came home from the pictures one evening.
“She had an eye on me,” Ted said.
“We’ve never been apart for more than a couple of days ever since.
“That was 65 years ago.
“We used to go to the pictures. I had a motorbike. We’d drive all over the place.
“She did the courting on the back of the motorbike.”
Ted lived “across the river” in Essendon at the time.
“We had a nursery, my parents and brother ran a big nursery at Essendon called Poynton’s,” he said.
He and Shirley married at a Presbyterian church in Footscray next door to the girls’ school that Shirley attended.
On Thursday 25 February they celebrated 60 years of marriage.
“It’s a milestone alright,” Ted said.
“We’ve been happy all our lives.”
They now call Arcare Aged Care in Keysborough home after spending time in Narre Warren North and Clayton.
“We hope to get to 70 years at least,” he said.
“We’re both pretty fit, especially here, we get looked after so well.”
Celebrations will include a musical performance and high tea.
“A lady gave us the most beautiful bunch of red roses yesterday, and we hardly knew the lady and I don’t know how she got out – she must have got her relations to buy them,” Ted said.
They’ll have a family celebration after their eldest granddaughter ties the knot on 13 March.
Shirley, 81, paid for the wedding dress and has already started saving for the next granddaughter’s gown.
Ted, 83, conceded there should be plenty of time to put enough pennies aside – she’s only 12 years old.
He said there were 19 in the family, including children, spouses and grandchildren.
