Goodspeeds to celebrate 60th

Don Goodspeed is legally blind, but when he leans in close to look at his wife, Shirley, there is a twinkle in his eye.

The couple were married on Valentine’s Day in 1953 and are celebrating their 60th anniversary at the Platte Valley Community Center Feb. 16 from noon to 3 p.m.

The couple is known around town as the “golf-cart people”. A few years ago they gave up their licenses due to poor eyesight and now drive a golf cart around town.

Shirley can still see and she does the driving.

The couple have two golf carts, one gas and one electric and they know how far each can travel.

Last week their driveway was snowed in and they couldn’t get out. “It drove me crazy,” Shirley said.

The couple likes to stay busy and that is apparent with the photos that are displayed throughout their home.

Don met Shirley in the fifth grade. She had just moved to Springfield, Colo., from the San Luis Valley, Colo. Don was absent from school that morning, so the teacher gave Shirley his seat. Later that day he showed up to school and found Shirley sitting in his chair.

“I was so shy,” Shirley said. “I hid under my mom’s coat that first day of school. I had never seen so many kids in my life.”

Shirley’s brother and Don became friends.

“Brothers and sisters are always bumping together,” Don said, so Shirley was usually with the boys.

She gets a kick out of telling a story about Don spending the night and her dad threatening to give him a “whooping”.

“He had never had a spanking in his life,” Shirley laughs.

The boys were goofing off and her dad told them to quiet down or they were going to get a whooping.

“They didn’t settle down until dad snapped his belt,” Shirley said.

Her dad was only joking, Shirley said, but it got Don’s attention.

The couple started dating in the eighth grade and got married when Shirley was 16 and Don 17. Despite being married so young, the couple planned all of their children, all boys: Steven, Greg and Donald (Skip).

As the couple tell their stories, they laugh and hold hands. They have been life-long friends and it shows in how they interact with each other.

All of their boys live in Carbon County and keep a close eye on their parents.

“We get in trouble when we take a trip in our golf cart and don’t tell them where we are going,” Shirley said.

Don traveled from state-to-state with his job. He retired after 44 years with Colorado Interstate Gas. They were living in Sinclair when he retired in 1998.

Shortly after retiring the couple moved to Cody. Don was working really hard one day and wasn’t taking a break. Shirley knew something wasn’t right.

She stopped him from working and told him, “Without you, there is no me.”

She drove him to Billings to St. Vincent’s hospital where doctors discovered five blockages near his heart and performed by-pass surgery.

“If we had not been so close to Billings, he might not be here,” Shirley said.

Another scare with Don occurred in Billings as well. He had a blood clot between his skull and brain and it was caught right away.

“He just wasn’t acting right,” Shirley said.

“The Lord works in wondrous ways,” Shirley said.

Their kids insisted the couple move back to Carbon County so they were not by themselves.

“God is in control,” Don said. They sold their house in Cody and moved to Saratoga in 2001.

Don said that for a marriage to work for 60 years couples have to be close enough to be good friends.

“I sure do love this old man,” Shirley said. “And I love her too,” Don said before a kiss.

“Our life wasn’t a bed of roses,” Shirley said. “Little things came up, but I wouldn’t change a thing.”

The couple is hoping to dance at their anniversary party. “Golden Rings” by Tammy Wynette and George Jones is their favorite song.

“If we hear music, we’re dancing,” Shirley said.

The Goodspeeds said family and friends are invited to celebrate with them, but they don’t want any gifts.

“Come as you are,” Shirley said.

The couple have eight grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.

Two years ago they received a call from their only grandson.

“We’re going to keep the Goodspeed name going,” he said, “we’re having a boy.”