Still moonstruck after 40 years

WHEN US astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made history as the first humans to walk on the Moon, local couple Paul Michael Morrissey and Julie Anne Worboys, of Lennox Head, decided to visit the moon themselves.

After tying the knot the weekend before the Moon landing the pair said they were so ‘in love’ they didn’t even know the historical event was taking place.

“We were over the moon that weekend,” Julie said about their honeymoon.

“And we didn’t see anybody else there.”

The two said they always joke that apparently someone landed on the Moon that weekend too.

“Paul’s always reminded about our anniversaries because of the lunar landing, so that’s how he gets out of remembering,” Julie said.

The Morrissey’s wedding picture made the ‘Social News in Pictures’ section of The Northern Star’s July 22, 1969 edition; the same newspaper in which the Moon landing made front-page headlines.
Now 40 years on and the pair are still over the moon about each other.

“We were married in St Carthage’s Cathedral in Lismore and had the reception at the Italo Club,” Mrs Morrissey said.

Julie was just 19 years old and Paul was 20 when they were married and went on their honeymoon to East Ballina, during which Julie said Paul was working for most of the time.

“It’s been 40 years and I’m still waiting for a proper honeymoon,” she said.

Although she was there to witness one of man’s greatest achievements, Julie said she didn’t even know it was happening and continued to remain oblivious for the following 12 months.

“I think she was high,” Paul said. “But we’re very happily married, as long as I do what she says.”
Julie recalled when Paul proposed to her.

“I can’t really remember, but it wasn’t romantic; it was probably ‘let’s get married’,” she said.
“We all got married young in those days.”

Julie’s father, Ken ‘Squizzy’ Worboys, a well-known local barber in Lismore, said at the time the marriage wouldn’t last.

“My mother always said I married a man from another planet, and I think she was right,” Julie said.
“We stuck to it and wanted to prove them wrong, and we stood the test of time.”

It was three years into the marriage when baby Tanya arrived to join Julie and Paul – who now all live happily on Earth.