By JESSE GRAHAM
WHEN IT comes to making a marriage last, Kevin and Patricia Poulter have a simple piece of advice – never go to bed angry.
The Woori Yallock couple, who were married on 30 October in 1954, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last week, and sat down with the Mail to talk about their time together.
Kevin, 82, and Patricia, 79, met each other at a ball in 1952, before going on a date together to see Limelight at the Capitol Theatre in Swanston Street in the city.
Two years later, they married, and had three children – Grahame, Michael and Robert – three grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Throughout their time together, the pair lived in Healesville for 33 years, before travelling to South Australia for 12 years and eventually coming back across to Victoria and setting up in Woori Yallock.
Kevin said that one of the most important things in keeping a marriage strong is to compromise and talk out disagreements before they go out of control.
“If there’s a disagreement, you talk it out – you compromise in all matters,” he said.
Patricia said that marriages are always a work-in-progress.
“We’re still working at it after 60 years,” she said.
“We’ve always been in love – we talk things out, we do the gardening together, he does the cooking and I do the washing up – depending on how big a mess he’s made.”
They said they’ve had their disagreements – such as when they barracked for different football teams – but that they worked through any issues they’ve had.
To mark the occasion, Kevin and Patricia received letters from Queen Elizabeth, the Governor General, as well as local politicians.
By the time their big anniversary came around, they had left the country on their first-ever international holiday together to Bali.
Patricia said they had been on cruises out of the country, but that they hadn’t been on a proper international trip before, and planned it to coincide with the big day.
As for the last 60 years, she said they had flown by – and none quicker than the last 10.
“Because he does a lot of reading and I do handicrafts, the days seem to fly,” she said.
She said that, out of their family members, they had been married the longest, and they attributed their longevity to their simple rule – never go to bed angry.
