Amanzimtoti couple celebrate golden anniversary
The high school sweethearts said they still have the same 'warm and fuzzy' feeling for each other that they first had more than 50 years ago.
HIGH school sweethearts Gavin and Elsa Hughes, who recently celebrated their 50-year wedding anniversary, said the key to a long-lasting marriage is keeping the romance alive.
The couple, aged 69 and 67, met as neighbours when they were 14 and 12-years-old. Gavin said they met through their younger siblings who used to play together, and the rest was history. However, Elsa said she had already been admiring the ‘skater boy’ through the curtains as he rode up and down their street.
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“On Guy Fawks in 1967, I was sitting under the tree watching the fireworks light up the sky when he approached me and asked me out on a date,” she said.
The couple both attended Newcastle High, and while in her Grade 11 year, Gavin had to leave to serve his one-year military training in the South African airforce.
When he returned, the young couple eagerly made their way down the aisle to say their ‘I dos’ on June 16, 1973 at the Newcastle Methodist Church. The couple has two daughters, five grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.
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About 31 years ago, Gavin’s work promotion lead them to Amanzimtoti where Elsa worked in some schools before they later retired. He then opened Double Beat Drum Studio and plays for a show band called The Gentry while she enjoys sewing and watching him teach and perform.
After jokingly saying the key to a happy, long-lasting marriage is the words ‘yes, dear’, he said honouring each other and keeping the romance alive is the most important thing.
They said, “You’ve got to continue dating even when you’re married. We are also together all day, every day and don’t believe in taking time apart. We still have the same ‘warm and fuzzy’ feeling for each other that we first had more than 50 years ago.”
With a recently gifted caravan in tow, the couple are looking forward to more travelling and new adventures together.
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