It was a beautiful, sunny autumn day on Saturday 19 May 1956.
For debonair 26-year-old bank teller Noel Robert Campbell, and 25-year-old kindergarten teacher Helen Alison Quibell, it was a day that they had both been looking forward to.
It was the day of their wedding, at St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Camberwell.
Fast forward 65 years to a beautiful, sunny autumn day on Wednesday 19 May 2021 and Noel Campbell, now a resident at VMCH Berwick Aged Care Residence, was up and dressed and eagerly awaiting the arrival of his beautiful bride of sixty-five years, Helen.
The couple planned to have lunch at the residence, in celebration of their 65th wedding anniversary.
The joyful anticipation was apparent in Noel as he anxiously counted down the minutes to 11am, which was when the taxi bringing his beloved wife was expected to arrive.
Unbeknown to Noel, who in general conversation had innocently revealed to staff that morning that it was a special day, plans were put in place by VMCH staff to celebrate the important milestone.
They planned to surprise the lovely couple with a special private luncheon for two.
The dining table was moved into place and set with placemats, cutlery and wine glasses, as well as a jug of chilled water and two glass tumblers.
A red rose lay gently atop the serviette where staff invited Helen to be seated, while a yellow rose rested on the serviette in Noel’s place. A vase of pink spider grevilleas which, like the roses, were gathered from the residence’s own garden, added a final touch to the table.
Both Noel and Helen were very touched by the gesture of staff as they were invited to take their seats for this intimate lunch.
Their glasses were filled with their favourite drop of shiraz and, after posing for a few photos, their meals and sweets were served by catering staff, who along with all care staff discreetly disappeared, to leave Mr and Mrs Campbell to enjoy their blue sapphire wedding anniversary.
After lunch staff presented the couple with a card and asked them both what the other has meant to them for so many years.
“Noel has been a wonderful husband, father and friend and he has always had a good sense of humour,” said Helen.
Noel summed it up by simply saying: “I chose a wonderful woman to share my life with. I could not have done better than Helen!”
