Dubbo residents Maureen and Kevin Melouney are set to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary on January 9, 2020 despite the pair being told Mr Melouney wouldn't make it past their 25th.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The endearing husband and wife, initially from Nyngan, met in 1957 when they were both at the youthful age of eighteen-years-old.
The couple both celebrated their 78th birthday's in 2019 and have spent more than three-quarters of their lives loving one another. "I was best friends with Maureen's elder brother," Mr Melouney said.
"I asked her if she wanted to go to the pictures with me, she said no."
"At first I told him to bugger off," Mrs Melouney laughed.
"This brother of hers, Tommy, we were out there one day, and I saw her, but I didn't know her name, and I said to Tommy; who's that good looking bird and he said that's one of my sisters," Mr Melouney said.
"I went around to see her, and she said sorry, I can't go to pictures with you.
"I thought to myself, well, here's the best-looking bloke in Nyngan and she's saying no," Mr Melouney laughed.
"But he was persistent, and he came back," Mrs Melouney said.
"After about 40 times of asking, she decided to go out. Now, we've married, moved to Dubbo, we have four kids, two boys, two girls and from those four kids they delivered us 12 grandkids and then 14 great-grandkids."
Mrs Melouney said when they'd celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary, Mr Melouney was sick after having suffered from a heart attack.
"He wasn't expected to live, and then we made it to 40 years."
Mrs Melouney believes their marriage has been successful due to the era they were married and the willingness to compromise and fight for their relationship.
"We've been good mates all of our lives and helped each other through the hard times," she said.
"We've both had our own battle with cancer.
"I was there for Kevin when he needed me, and then he was there for me, that's what marriage is."
"We do have blues," Mr Melouney added with a laugh.
"But not very often," Mrs Melouney agreed.
"We were married when the times were hard, you just stuck together, battled on and did what you had to do, today it's so easy to separate instead of battling through it, if I wanted to leave today, I could go.
"We did everything together. We shared everything.
"There's not a day that goes by where Kevin doesn't make me laugh."
Love local news? Sign up to our daily newsletter
Taylor Dodge
Your story matters, your voice deserves to be heard and I would love to help you share it. I have five years of experience as a Journalist with Australian Community Media covering an array of topics, with a key focus on breaking news and crime and a passion for people. E: taylor.dodge@austcommunitymedia.com.au.
Your story matters, your voice deserves to be heard and I would love to help you share it. I have five years of experience as a Journalist with Australian Community Media covering an array of topics, with a key focus on breaking news and crime and a passion for people. E: taylor.dodge@austcommunitymedia.com.au.
