POLOKWANE – Couples celebrate anniversaries in different ways – some with weekends away, candlelit dinners, or others with special gifts.

But for Roger (89) and Gloria (75) Alexander, love is marked by a deeply personal ritual. Each year, for over five decades, Gloria takes off her rings and Roger gently places them back on her fingers.

Their love story began in Zimbabwe, when Roger delivered jam his sister had made, to Gloria’s mother. Their paths crossed again at work where he was an accountant, and she a typist.

“I didn’t like him at first. Scottish humour is different. But once we got to know each other, everything changed,” Gloria recalls.

Six years later, they married, and Gloria left her job. “I couldn’t work for him and live with him,” she jokes.

Their secret to a lasting marriage? “Be of the same mind in Christ. And always communicate, talk things through as they come up,” she adds.

She recalls honeymoon advice that stuck: never go to bed angry.

Roger still makes her laugh, and Gloria says understanding his jokes has become easier with time. “At the start, he wanted 12 children,” she teases. “We settled on two, and now we have five grandchildren.”

Roger chuckles about Gloria’s love for plants: “I look around, and all I see are leaves!” After disagreements, Gloria is usually the first to say sorry, while Roger faithfully says thank you for everything.

In their younger years, the couple fished together. Today, they enjoy sitting in the sun and spending time with family. On a recent trip to Tzaneen, they posed for a photo in a wedding venue, standing right where a bride and groom would.

Their advice to young couples? “Don’t throw in the dish towel. Say sorry. Forgive. And keep loving.”