Together since WWII

A MARRIAGE based on 1 Timothy 1 verse 15 for 69 years, this is how Liesel and Reinold Koch can best describe their union.
Meeting during the strenuous times of the Second World War, together, these two have seen many trends and fashions come and go yet none of these has managed to pull them apart.
She grew up in Vryheid, while he was raised in Escourt before moving to Vryheid when his parents bought a farm just outside of town.
Asked how they met Tante Liesel explained that it was at Kambula Hall, which was a place for parties after the war.
“It was a very funny thing as our parents had to take us to the parties and they would wait for us outside until the party was over as they had to save petrol. I met Reiny during one of these parties,” said Tante Liesel.
The pair met in 1943 and it was only in 1945 when Tante Liesel turned 17 that they were able to get engaged.
“We met during the war and I matriculated in 1944. Reiny was slightly older then me and so he had to wait until I turned 17 for us to get engaged and we got married in 1947,” she recalled with a laugh.
The couple was wedded at a small Lutheran Church in Hlobane Street and can both still recall what a glorious day it was.
Between the year 1947 and 1951, they settled down, had three children and their very first family car.
Tante Liesel said that being married at 17 had a few challenges, but nothing she couldn’t handle.
“I remember how when I needed to go to town for shopping, he would take me along with him on his way to work with the work lorry and drop me off at my mother’s house in town. I would then do all my shopping and run all other errands and go back to my mother’s to wait for him to leave work that afternoon so that I could get a lift home,” Tante Liesel recalled fondly.
According to Tante Liesel, this way of only having one trip to town soon taught her to make a list of all the things she needed to avoid having to go out and ask for basics from her neighbours.
“We lived two houses away from my mother in-law who was the perfect housewife and always seemed to have everything in order,” she said with a laugh.
“It was always so embarrassing for me to go and ask for something like salt or any other basic item I had forgotten to get while doing the groceries because of how she always seemed to have all her ducks in a row,” Tante Liesel went on.
The month of February is known as the month of love, and people all around the world will be celebrating with their loved ones.
If this couple who met during such an unfortunate period like Word War 2, defied all odds and went on to celebrate 69 years together, are not proof that true love still exists, then maybe no one will ever know what is.