Bluff couple remains united after six decades

THE love story of Doreen, 79, and France Robin Harvey, 83 is one that brings hope in a time when we need it the most.

The Bluff couple celebrated a milestone in their marriage, marking 60 beautiful years together last month.

Although they had originally planned to go all out to celebrate the milestone with family and friends,  they instead celebrated the day with an intimate party at home with a beautiful cake and home baked goodies, due to lockdown regulations.

Affectionately known as uncle Harvey and aunty Dolly, they have come a long way in reaching this milestone. Both came to the city of Durban from humble rural beginnings with very little but were determined to create a good life. France grew up in Groutville Northern Natal and Doreen in Dundee Natal.

Their paths crossed when they first met in Durban while they were working for the same garment employer. They got married in Durban on 18 June 1960 and have never looked back. Apparently their love story did not begin with the typical love at first sight, but France had his mind made up that Doreen was going to be his wife, so he pulled out all the stops to make it happen, and being together for the past 60 years is evidence of his determination.

Family is at the foundation of their lives and their most precious memories are those spent with their loved ones. “We do acknowledge that life happened and that we spent a lot of time trying to make a life for ourselves that at times we did forget about family. However, later on in life as we got wiser and we were able to begin to distinguish between things that last and those that are only around for a season.

“Just like a tree that has leaves, branches and roots, while the tree needs them all to survive, the leaves fall away after a season and branches may be pruned after a few years. But the roots are the ones that stay with the tree for life and that is where most of the focus should be and for us the roots represent family. So what we have learnt and hopefully passed on to our children is never to take family for granted because they are the ones that we should be doing life with,” they said.  Today they have three children, six grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Like any marriage, the Harvey’s have weathered many storms together. “There are too many to mention but we are grateful that the good Lord has been gracious to us and has carried us through those difficult times.”

Their recipe for a long lasting is to keep God at the centre at all times and the outcome will be love and respect for your spouse and others as well. “It is a pity that we did not have that in the early stages of our relationship or have somebody around to teach us that. If we did I am sure that we would have been able to better face some of the challenges we encountered. It is not that the challenges got less over time, but rather that we intentionally included God, and He gave us wisdom to  address the challenges and to overcome them.

“The scriptures teach us that in this world all of us will have challenges but the difference will be for those who put their trust in God because He will make a way of escape. This is the message that we would like to give especially to the younger generation. Stay at the feet of Jesus, commit yourselves to him and he will direct your path and give you what you need to live a good life. That is because He is a good God and wants to bless all his children,” said a compassionate Doreen.

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