Couple shares diamond strong bond
Betty and Mani Mare celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary recently.
HIGHWAY based couple, Betty and Mani Maré, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on 28 November.
The romance started off as if it was taken directly out of a Hollywoord movie script, with the two first meeting by chance in 1951 in Zimbabwe and not seeing each other again for a year.
“A friend of mine called me to say he didn’t have his car and he needed help picking up two women from play rehearsals. When we arrived at the city hall they were still busy, so I started playing the piano. I first saw Betty when she stood next to me while I was at the piano. We just looked at each other and then the group of us left,” said Mani.
One year passed by until they laid eyes on each other again. “That same friend called me up and said we were going to be taking two girls out to a movie. I remember looking at her that evening and thinking, ‘wow, she is pretty!’ We then grabbed a bite to eat and headed off to the house I was looking after to dance and talk. Instead of dropping the two girls off at home at 11pm, we dropped them off well after midnight. We had hoped the family would be asleep but the lights were blazing and Betty’s twin brother came rushing out and chased us off,” said Mani.
The next day he said they went to apologise and make peace with the family and the following day they went on their first official date. They were engaged in 1952 and were married a year later at the Dutch Reform Church of Bulawayo.
For their honeymoon they went to the Mountain Hill Hotel for four days, Durban for three weeks and then a cruise to Cape Town, where they celebrated the new year, made their way back to Durban where they spent another two weeks at the beach front.
Their first child, Paul, was born in 1955 and they welcomed their daughter, Adele, into the world in 1960. They also have three grandchildren.
The family moved to South Africa in 1967 and lived in Johannesburg for 22 years before making the decision to move to Durban in 1989.
“Our favourite trip together was definitely going to New Zealand, where we stayed for two and a half months, we almost moved there. It was special because it was the longest trip that we have ever taken together and our first long trip by air. It was just so much fun,” said Mani.
The couple believe that it is their Christianity and living by what the Bible teaches that has kept them together for so long. “I believe that is the ultimate bond that keeps us together but a marriage is also about give and take and communication has to be present,” said Mani.
