Pretoria - Better late than never - that's how newly-married Dougles Iles, 80, described his marriage and romance with Helene Fairhurst, 85.
They tied the knot last Sunday in Pretoria east, having been engaged for just two months. “I opted to propose over the phone all the way from England rather than get down on one knee because I wouldn't have been able to get back up,” said Iles, with a laugh.
“When two people fall in love and they are in their 80s, there's really no point in waiting too long to tie the knot.”
The pair met in 2012 while the retired Fairhurst was living in England. Iles was part of a voluntary church group that gave Holy Communion to other elderly people who couldn't make it to church.
He visited her numerous times to give Holy Communion before they established a friendship. “It was not love at first sight; nothing like in the movies. We learned to appreciate and understand each other before we tied the knot,” said Fairhurst.
They said their love was a process that took time to mature like good wine. A year after their friendship started to take shape, Fairhurst moved back to South Africa, saying she had missed her family and relatives.
She had stayed there for 43 years. “I was born in De Aar in the Northern Cape and moved to England after marrying an English man,” said Fairhurst.
After her husband died, she married again. But after death claimed her second husband too, Fairhurst packed her bags and returned to South Africa in 2013, settling at an old-age home in Waterkloof.
But before leaving England, she made Iles promise that he would visit her in South Africa. They maintained contact for a year until he summoned up the courage to come to South Africa.
During his first visit in 2014, he stayed for two weeks, and the stay stretched to seven weeks when he returned last year.
Their friendship turned into romance after they realised that they couldn't spend time apart from each other. “When I went home, I realised that I couldn't live my life without my flower'.
“I went to my priest in England and asked if I should ask for her hand in marriage. His reply was: 'what are you waiting for'?”
Iles phoned his sweetheart and asked her to marry him. “At my age, if I had to come to Pretoria and go down on one knee, I wouldn't have been able to get back up,” he said.
Fairhurst said she was taken aback by the proposal. “I had hot flushes. I told him I needed time to think about it, but he insisted on an answer straight away. I subsequently said yes.”
Iles said with a laugh: “After learning that she had been widowed twice before we got married, I decided she must stay away from the kitchen because she might poison me too.”
His first wife had died.
Iles and Fairhurst tied the knot at Nazareth House in Waterkloof in the company of family and friends.
The couple walked down the aisle arm-in-arm with Iles's son being best man and Fairhurst's nephew giving her away.
The couple left for England late on Thursday, where they will spend their rest of their days together.
“I love her very much; the love I have for her keeps growing. It started as a friendship and grew into something different,” he said.
“I have got to look after her for the rest of my days, and she has got to look after me.”
On their plans for the future, Fairhurst joked: “I don't think we'll be starting a family just yet.”
Pretoria News