By Ethan Benedicto
Celebrating 60 years of marriage is a milestone any couple would be happy about, and that is precisely the case with the Whiteleys.
Rex and Lorraine Whiteley are soon set to celebrate 60 years of love on March 27, with excitement still in the air as they plan to travel to the Lady Lavender’s Tea Room in Bunyip.
A place that has been tied to the couple in history, they both agree that it’s unlikely either of them are ever going to grow tired of it.
Lorraine said that both she and Rex had “met young, when we were around 11 and 12”.
“We went to the local church, and he would sit behind me and always kick my feet from behind,” she said.
It didn’t take long for a friendship to bloom between the two youths, and when they were both 16 and 17, they became even more involved with the church, through youth camps and other activities.
More activities meant more time spent together, and this meant that love was in the air.
The couple married young, when they were 20 and 21, in 1965, a day that neither of them is going to forget.
At that time, Rex worked as a sheep and cattle farmer, with Lorraine mainly tending to the home’s needs.
However, the farm life wasn’t always the common scene, having been a firefighter he took part in the efforts against Ash Wednesday bushfires in 1983, recalling that “I spent a week without any sleep”.
They lived in Pakenham for the majority of their years, but in 2000, moved to Berwick, where they remain until now.
With three children, and more grandchildren than they can count, both are content and eager to take things by the day.
When asked how he felt, Rex said that “well, I’m married to Lorraine, and that’s alright I think”.
After the couple laughed it off, he commented that in their years, the only thing that either of them really wanted to do was take it quiet and easy,
“I want to get into bed, just get in there, take my teeth off and leave them there, take my ears off even and leave them there, and of course my shoes and then just lay there,” Rex laughed.
Looking ahead, both Lorraine and Rex are eager to celebrate a quiet anniversary, something that both of them enjoy, a cherished celebration of a couple whose love never waned.
