Love still blooms after 50 years
'Humour, music and our faith has kept our marriage strong' - Gary Smith.
THE Smith’s, Gary and Nora from Sarnia, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on Friday, 8 January.
They met in Empangeni in 1963 where Nora had her first teaching post and Gary worked at a bank. Nora was born in Eshowe and Gary in Empangeni where they met at a game of hockey.
Two years later, on 8 January 1966, they were married at St Agnes Anglican Church in Greytown when Gary was 23 and Nora was 24.
They left their home town and moved to Durban in 1971.
Gary said that their sense of humour, the love of music and dancing are their common interests and what attracted them to each other. “My husband is very caring and compassionate,” Nora said with a smile of appreciation on her face. The couple loves to travel, mostly on cruises and have travelled abroad to Europe.
“I am very grateful to my wife, she has done a lot for us, without her working so hard, we wouldn’t have most of what we have,” said Gary.
The Smiths are blessed with three daughters and six grandchildren. “We are lucky that they are all still in the country and we can still spend time with them. We are moving in with one of our daughters soon and we are delighted,” said Nora.
At the ages of 74 and 73 Nora and Gary still keep fit, they go to gym three times a week and are healthy eaters. “We thank God for health, we have a strong faith and that is what has kept us together for so long,” said Nora.
The couple offered some valuable advice to newlyweds: “When you get married you are two characters and there is no way you will change the other,” they said.
They said being able to communicate and their strong faith has been a great bond in their relationship. “Today, divorce is so easy, they don’t try to fix their marriage. They should communicate,” Gary said.
Nora also added that doing what you love contributes to a great life and relationship. “I had a fulfilling career as a principal at Peter Pan Pre-Primary School for 30 years,” she said.
