AFTER 66 years of marriage, Mick Ingram still refers to his wife, Edna, 88, as “his girl” and speaks of her passion for gardening and bowling with great pride.
Last Friday, the Bacchus Marsh couple celebrated their wedding anniversary with lunch at Bacchus Marsh Golf Club, a weekly haunt since they moved to the suburb in 2000.
A combination of ritual and maintaining their own interests has made their love go the distance, according to Mick, 89.
“We’ve been pretty good all the way through,’’ he says, ‘‘but if we do have a bit of a discussion we never go to bed without having a goodnight kiss.’’
The couple have lived in seven homes since they married in 1947, starting in Fitzroy. Two quickly became four when Edna gave birth to twins, and then six when another set of twins followed.
Edna and the children later lived in Warburton before joining Mick in Upper Yarra, where he drove a grader during the construction of a dam. Shortly after, they moved to suburban Clifton Hill and, later, Thornbury.
Mick worked as a home improver until his retirement at 60, while Edna spent her younger years in haberdashery before developing a passion for the outdoors.
“She loves it here [in Bacchus Marsh] because she’s a gardener, she’s a flower girl,’’ Mick says.
‘‘She could only have pots back in Thornbury, and now she has an acre to work around.”
Daughter Ruth admires their commitment and is looking forward to celebrating her mum’s 89th birthday on August 6 and her dad’s 90th on August 14.
“They always do their kiss goodnight, they’re gorgeous,” she says.
Mick is confident they’ve provided a good example.
“The kids all know what they’re doing – we’ve got nine grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.”
