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If anybody wants to know the secret to long life, enduring marriages and getting along with the in-laws, then members of the Kelsey family are surely the right people to ask.
Siblings – Dawn, Bruce, Avis, Les, Lois and Joy – are now in their 70s and 80s. They have all celebrated their golden wedding anniversaries, have remained with the same partner throughout their lives and all continue to live close to where they grew up, near Matakana.
When it comes to a long life, Dawn thinks healthy eating has played a big role.
“We were brought up on good food. We did not have all the rubbish – sugar and stuff – that we have got now,” she says.
Bruce says drinking in moderation also helps. And thinks drinking a little alcohol is better than drinking none at all.
The siblings feel being physically active when growing up has been a good thing. Family members represented Rodney in Rugby and Hockey, and were also active in cricket, tennis, basketball and long-distance running.
As for sticking with one’s marriage partner, Avis believes today people form relationships easily but they get broken too quickly when things get rocky.
“Mum and Dad instilled into us that you couldn’t just leave when things got difficult, you stayed together and worked it out,” she says.
The siblings say their parents were loving but strict. They did not shy away from using a little physical discipline when required, but say it did them no harm and “taught them right from wrong”.
Dawn says their parents also taught them the value of hard work and there were times when she worked two or three jobs when finances got tight.
The siblings ended up in various occupations such as farming, retailing, fencing, concrete contracting and graphic design.
None went to university but this has sparked no regrets.
“Mum and dad were not very well off, so they could not put us through university, but we had a pretty good life as kids,” says Avis.
As for getting on with the in-laws, the siblings say learning to bite your tongue is a useful skill plus sharing a “weird sense of humour”.
The six couples get together at least twice a year for a midwinter dinner and at Christmas.
“We are all there for each other if we need each other,” says Avis.
“But we don’t live in each other’s pockets,” says Bruce.
