John and Pam Jarratt were neighbours in Harfleur St, Deniliquin when they met in the 1950s.
John, then a 16 year-old from Hay, met Pam, a young woman born and bred in Deniliquin.
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Pam worked at the local grocery store from age 14, when she left school, and John was a part of the National Service.
Later, Pam worked at the Regent Theatre, which opened in the early 1960s, and it eventually became the couple’s favourite outing.
Pam would check tickets for movie-goers, and as a staff member she and John would get free seats.
“We used to go to the pictures every Friday and Saturday night,” said John.
“It took us five years to get married,” Pam said, adding, “it was a beautiful day.”
“When we walked out of the hall to go on our honeymoon, they (the crowd) all picked up John, turned him upside down and put confetti down his pants!”
“He didn’t like that too much.”
The five year courtship must seem short in comparison to the 60 years the pair have been married; yesterday, they celebrated their Diamond wedding anniversary.
Their wedding ceremony took place at Deniliquin’s Presbyterian Church on March 24, 1960, followed by a reception at an old hall on Cressy St, which has since been replaced by retailers.
The pair bought their Dick St home in 1966 and have lived there since.
The quaint spot is wrapped with greenery. Inside, it still displays the telltale signs of a classic 1960s suburban home, with gorgeous archways, timber flooring, and warm-toned homey detailing.
More importantly, every surface is decorated with reminders of the life they have lived - framed photos of important events, knick knacks, trophies, antique furnishings which have stood the test of time, and a painting of a beloved pet.
The air now in their 80s, it is a treasure trove of a singular history.
When John was a younger, thriftier man, and new to town, he was said to have moved into town with “just a blanket and a two-bob piece”.
As a teenager, he trained with the cadets in Hay, before he became a painter in adulthood.
John’s father was a civil servant for the Water Commissioner’s department.
Growing up, Pam’s father worked with cars, first at Brown’s Garage and then Burchfield Bros dealership.
Pam remembers Deniliquin as a simpler place then.
“When I was eight or nine, (Deni) was a simple place.
“Dad used to ‘dink’ me to school on the bike.”
Pam and John appear to have two key interests which have stood the test of time - a love of family, and a passion for golf.
They have two children. Kim (56) helps take care of her parents, and Andrea (52) lives near Ararat, working in the Victorian Supreme Court system.
The quartet used to take annual holidays at Christmas to Bawley Point on the Shoalhaven coast.
Their life together has been defined by their closeness.
Pam and John have only ever had one holiday alone together since their Echuca honeymoon - a trip to Tasmania - but they have made the most of life’s small luxuries.
“We did almost everything together that you could think of,” John said.
John taught the youngsters to catch yabbies, and to fish.
Both Pam and John have been playing golf for decades, and Pam has won a few trophies in her time, too.
“Funnily enough, John was playing golf when I gave birth to (our daughter) Kim, because back then fathers didn’t come to births,” she said.
Despite challenges over their years together, they have taken each step with good humour and understanding.
Walking through their cosy, well-kept home, Pam remembers John deciding to repaint their ceiling fans.
“Partway through, he asked me to turn the fan on to move it around just a little bit, and of course paint ends up on me, on the floor, on all the kitchen cupboards, and all over him!”
On another occasion, John decided to replace the roof of their little red Vauxhall, but cut the material too short.
“So then every time it rained, we would get water in through the roof,” Pam said.
But some additions have been more successful, such as a back porch and a shaded seating area in the backyard.
Throughout Wednesday morning, family members arriving from interstate and nearby crowded onto the front deck in anticipation of yesterday’s celebration.
While at times one of the duo could be headstrong or impatient or both, they always dealt with it in good humour. And when humour couldn’t help, sometimes tears could.
“Our problems weren’t physical, but they were the type where you might need to sit down and have a good cry,” John said.
“It was rugged sometimes.”
That may have meant losing family members, or marital struggles, but they say they would always choose to face things together.
“We had difficult times but we got over it, and I can say today that thank God we stuck together,” Pam said.
“Young ones today they break up and say ‘stuff it’. But even when it was hard, we would say ‘we’ve got the kids and we’re sticking with it’.”
The Jarratts will celebrate their 60th anniversary with an intimate gathering tomorrow, with family and friends from nearby and interstate.