By Engelbert Schmidl
NELL Baker’s eyes still twinkle when her husband of 60 years starts on a yarn about his service days.
The Cairnlea woman rolls her eyes as Norm Baker, 83, tells a salty tale about his World War II days. It’s the sort of loving little gesture that reveals so much about the secret to sharing 60 happy years.
“We shared everything. We discussed it, we didn’t do it if we didn’t both agree,” said Mr Baker.
The couple celebrate their diamond anniversary on 8 October. They were married at St Mark’s church, Sunshine in 1946.
As with so many great romances, the Bakers can credit friends and family with aligning their stars to the same orbit.
Norm was from East Kew, still a semi-rural suburb in the 1940s, and Nell was a Sunshine girl when they got together with the help of Nell’s sister’s girlfriend.
They lived in Derrimut St, Albion , for 55 years, raising their three children, Jill, Christine and Robert.
They also have five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
The Bakers moved to Cairnlea and live next door to their son, Robert, and his wife, Brigitte, and say that a close family helps them stay young at heart.
