BRIAN and Joan Sweet sat together at school in the early days of their friendship.
And now the Park Ridge couple remain at each others side through 60 years of marriage.
The Sweet household celebrated the milestone with a family dinner on Thursday night at Heritage Park.
The relationship formally began when Brian and Joan turned 16 and they married five years later.
Mr Sweet said they had to follow the rules of a conservative era.
“We were not allowed to go out to the pictures at night time until we were 16,” he said.
“We would normally get 10 minutes to talk at the gate when Joan’s mother would say “You better come in now.”
“It was not like what it is today. You would never ask to go away for the weekend.”
The couple have a lot in common, including a shared interest in real estate and agriculture.
“We always plan things together. We bought houses and blocks of land and kept them for 12 months at a time before selling them to make a bit of money,” Mr Sweet said.
The Sweet family also ran a chicken and pig farm.
Mr Sweet described Joan at the backbone of the marriage and said he relied on her heavily after going through three hip replacements, diabetes and significant swelling.
“Joan is so very kind. She has always been at my beck and call and even now she has a big job looking after me because I am a big baby who can not do much,” he said.
The Sweet family plan to continue to settle down in their family home at Park Ridge.
