Lynette + Barry

Married on the 4th May 1974

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How did you two meet?
“We met in December 1971 at Mon Repos Beach, Bundaberg. While studying primary teaching we both went to help our biology lecturer with his thesis about the nesting habits of sea turtles. Barry had already been helping our lecturer the previous summer as he was a year ahead of me at Teachers College. As volunteers, you had to commit to at least two weeks of helping to do all of the night patrols on the beach. Barry and I made a connection after the first few days, and when I returned to Brisbane ahead of him it was knowing that he’d come and see me.” – Lyn

What are your secrets to a long-lasting marriage?
“Give and take. Tolerance and patience. Of course it helps that you are both in love with each other to start with! As a married couple you have great times, fun times, happy times, but, you have to be prepared to sort things out, stick to your commitment if, and when, things get sticky… you don’t just give up.”

What is your favourite memory together?
“The birth of our two daughters – to think that you have created these lives through your own love for each other is something magical.”

What do you love most about each other?
“Our skills compliment each other, we have continued to cooperate and have successfully overcome whatever life has thrown at us.”

What has been your most valuable lesson learned from marriage?
“Tolerance of others, and sticking together in our own beliefs, ethics and morals. Following through in our commitment to what we decided were our ideas of what ‘family’ means.”

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“Marriage is like a bunch of roses;
sometimes you’re handling the petals, and sometimes you grab the thorns.
But, we guess, no matter what you have hold of at any one time,
you still have the beautiful perfume of the roses wafting into your senses.”

– Lyn & Barry

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