60 Years Strong for Brian and Sandra Abbott
Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Brian and Sandra Abbott of Resthaven Paradise, who recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary at their Resthaven home at 61 Silkes Road, Paradise.
The happy couple, who moved into adjoining rooms in July this year, commemorated the occasion with an event in the main hall, arranged by their two daughters.
Mrs Abbott says, ‘We were very pleased that Resthaven enabled us to use the main hall, and our daughter did all the catering.’
‘There was wine, beer, cool drinks, and a lovely big cake, too.’
The couple met at a dance hall at the Enfield Institute when they were both aged 17. Brian says, ‘They used to have dances every week.’
‘The men would line up on one side of the hall, women on the other. I don’t know, for some reason, she [Sandra] just attracted me.’
The rest is history, with the couple dating for five years before finally marrying on 30 September 1961, at the Prospect North Methodist Church.
Of the special day, Mrs Abbott recalls: ‘We chose September because my mum had always said, “You don’t want to get married on a hot day.”’
‘Well, it turned out to be the hottest September day on record, at 97 degrees!’ [Fahrenheit, or 36 degrees Celsius].
‘There was a hot northerly, my veil almost got blown away.’
‘And all the men with their suits on, all dressed up so nicely. They must have been so hot.’
‘We stayed in a motel in Adelaide that night, then took the train to Melbourne, then Sydney, then the Blue Mountains. All our travelling was done on the train, which was very enjoyable.’
‘We originally bought a house at Paradise, and lived there for 32 years.’
‘Brian has a great love of the hills, so we then moved to Stirling in the Adelaide hills, where we lived for 13 years.’
‘However, the cold got to Brian, and the block was a third of an acre so it really became too big.’
‘So we bought a house at Rostrevor in 2005, and lived there until we moved into Resthaven Paradise in July this year.’
‘We were lucky to get two separate rooms next door to each other, that way we could bring more furniture in.’
At Resthaven Paradise, the couple couldn’t be happier, with Mrs Abbott saying. ‘It’s very, very good; the care and attention you get from the staff, the quality of the meals, as well as the location with all the trees here by Linear Park. Brian loves that due to his love of the hills and trees.’
‘I’ve started going to exercise class, and I’ve played dominoes and Bingo.’
‘I quite enjoy getting out and doing some of these things. We meet up with other friends in the dining rooms.’
‘All the specialised care that we get – they can’t do enough for you.’
‘We’ve got everything we need here at Resthaven Paradise.’
Congratulations, Mr and Mrs Abbott, and thank you for sharing your milestone with the Resthaven community!