Nothing wrong with a bit of banter after 50-year marriage
They had a rocky start to their marriage.
Stanley (73) and Heather (71) Micallef’s marriage almost ended when it began.
The Farrarmere couple celebrated 50 years of marriage on March 2, but only a few hours into their life together, tragedy befell them.
The pair married in present-day Zimbabwe and that same day, they departed on their honeymoon, which had been booked in Mozambique.
About 50km into their trip, they were involved in a motor vehicle accident with another vehicle.
The newlyweds spent that night in hospital.
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“Everyone said I had the perfect wife because she could not speak,” Stanley jokingly told the City Times last week.
Heather hit back: “Even if you have your teeth all wired up, you can still talk.”
Heather had broken her jaw and Stanley had post-concussion.
Their wedding made headlines in a newspaper in then Rhodesia as they had two priests from different denominations – Roman Catholic and Anglican – officiate the wedding.
They moved to Benoni in 1978 and later had two sons, Lawrence and Graham, who now both live in the UK.
Despite the less than perfect start to their life together, they weathered the storm and agreed that good communication has been one of the key ingredients to their marriage.
“If you can’t talk to each other, you can’t solve a problem; we can’t read people’s minds,” Stanley said.
“Slamming a door doesn’t solve anything.”
Heather said she admires her husband’s “determination” and “passion”.
“I tell people I married her because I wanted to improve my gene pool,” Stanley joked, adding that his sons and granddaughter, Elektra (11), are bright.
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