Today marks 60 years since of Avril and George Sutton’s union.
It was Saturday May 7 in 1960 when the Sea Point couple tied the knot at the Sea Point Congregational Church.
Ms Sutton said they planned to go on a holiday to Portugal to mark their 60th wedding anniversary but because of the global Covid-19 pandemic, they won’t be able to travel.
“I was telling my husband that we shouldn’t be upset about it, we’ll enjoy it together,” she said. “We will just make our home our Portugal,” added Mr Sutton.
The couple met at a bus stop in Sea Point at ages, 15 and 19.
“She was standing at a bus station with her friend and my friend and I decided to turn the car around and offer them a lift, even though they were going in the opposite direction to the Pavillion,” he said,
“He said instead of going for a swim why don’t you rather go for a ride with us and we said okay,” said Ms Sutton.
Later on, after sharing home addresses, a young Mr Sutton went to Ms Sutton’s house to invite her to the cinema. Her mother told the young lad that the young lady he was inviting out was going to watch the film with her father. “I told her that I could go with them and her sister and I ended up paying for all of us. That was the deadlock for me and I’ve been paying ever since,” he joked.
They were engaged for four years before getting married. They were blessed with two sons, one of whom is deceased.
“We’ve got two beautiful granddaughters who are both overseas. And our son and his wife visited their younger daughter and unfortunately, are still stuck abroad because of Covid-19,” said Ms Sutton.
The couple said they’ve had a happy 60 years together and wouldn’t change anything about their union. Ms Sutton said their secret to their long-lasting happy marriage was doing things together and considering each other.
“We do things together, we go to the gym together, we sail together,” she said.
Touching on some of their best memories in their six decades together, the couple recall travelling with their children in their Kombi across different continents for nine months.
“It was cold and snowy and we did everything in our Kombi. We had bad and cold days but that was a highlight of our life together,” said Mr Sutton.
Touching on the dark days in their marriage, the couple shared the pain of losing a child and dealing with Ms Sutton’s cancer diagnosis. “I had it twice, in the breast and in the stomach. We also had the tragedy of losing our young son. Those were difficult times for us but there’s always sunshine after the rain,” said Ms Sutton.
The couple, now 80 and 84, said they live their best lives in all their decades together. “Our friends know that we are celebrating our anniversary and unfortunately, we can’t see them due to the situation. We’re happy to have made it to 60 years, we can’t wait for our 70th and will have a big party with everyone,” they said.