CAST your mind back to the year 1949, Ben Chifley was Australia’s prime minister, George VI was the King of the United Kingdom and Arthur and Elaine Edmunds tied the knot.
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Late last month the Edmunds’ celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary at St Andrew’s village in North Tamworth.
The couple wed on December 28, 1949 at the Cameron Memorial Presbyterian Church in Glen Innes.
Elaine, 88, and 87-year-old husband Arthur – better known as Bill – are still going strong and are hoping to make it to a rare platinum anniversary to mark 70 years of marriage in three years’ time.
They have three children – Stephen, Greg and Annette – four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Mrs Edmunds, a Glen Innes girl, said she met her Bingara-born beau at a dance in her home town.
“I met him at a dance, my father had a dance band,” she said.
The key to their long-lasting marriage was “teamwork” and “giving and taking”, Mrs Edmunds said.
“You got to help one another, I think that's the main thing. Give and take,” she said.
“How we managed, one would be bathing the kids and the other one would be doing the kitchen and cleaning up.”
And it’s a winning formula that hasn’t changed in 67 years.
“We still work together after all of those years,” Mrs Edmunds said.
“Bill will be making the bed while I’m getting the breakfast ready.”
And Bill’s key to successful marriage was much the same.
“To get along with each other like we do, [you have to] trust each other and confide in each other,” he said.
“I help her out and she helps me out.”
While notching up 67 wedding anniversaries is an achievement on its own, friends of the Edmunds are already looking forward to the 70th milestone.
“It’s been an effort to get to this far, [but] I’ll try,” Mrs Edmunds said.
“We’re going to have a big party if we make 70.”