SIXTY years is a long time by any measure.
For Trevor and Jan Wright however, it feels like yesterday when they got married.
The Goughs Bay couple met in the schoolyards of Coburg, tying the knot in their early twenties.
“We were school lovers,” Trevor said.
“I was 21 and he was just about 23 when we got married,” Jan said.
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The wedding was a family affair, with cousins, siblings, aunties and uncles invited.
Trevor worked as a salesman and then a sales manager for a pump shop.
“I then opened up my own business called Wright Pump Shop,” he said.
“My youngest son did his apprenticeship and joined me in the company.”
Trevor had a heart attack at the age of 61, making the decision to step back from running his business.
“I said to my son, ‘that’s it, the business is yours, I’m done’,” he said.
While now a permanent fixture in the fabric of the Goughs Bay community, Trevor and Jan moved up 21 years ago after the business was handed over.
The couple had fallen in love with the area after staying at friends’ properties on holiday.
“A foreman at a company I worked with had a house in Grandview Drive and he offered our family the use of the house,” Jan said.
“That was the first time we came to Goughs Bay.
“I went to another company and the manager of that company had a place up here, just two doors down.
“Then it just sort of snowballed from there.”
Trevor said the decision to buy property in 1991 was an easy one.
“One day we went for a walk and we saw a for sale sign up on their property,” he said
“We had a look at the price and the view and said, ‘that’s ours’.”
Goughs Bay has significantly changed over the decades Trevor and Jan have been visiting and living in the area.
“It was not as advanced,” she said.
“It was a holiday town, but quiet.
“It was just a lovely spot to get out of the city; we don't want to go back to Melbourne.”
In 2000, the couple sold their house in Melbourne and moved to Goughs permanently.
Trevor became active in the community, joining the Mansfield Golf Club and putting his name on the board many times before taking training and spectating role at the club about a year ago.
Jan filled her time with beautiful and intricate cross-stitch artworks of birds which now line the walls of their cosy home.
Their children still visit, bringing grand and great-grandchildren to enjoy the change in scenery.
“It's a different lifestyle out of the metropolitan area,” Jan said.
As the couple reflect on their years of commitment, each had a few words of wisdom to share for those just starting out in their partnerships.
“Be truthful and enjoy one another,” Trevor said with conviction.
“Be there for one another,” Jan added.
