Pretoria - Love means where you go, I go.
This is the message from a couple who have been married for 74 years.
Thembinkhosi Mahlalela, 101, and his wife, Florence Mahlalela, 94, of Ndabayakhe Reserve, Empangeni, in KwaZulu-Natal, said the secret to a happy marriage was to be together as much as possible.
They have taken their promise of “to have and to hold… in sickness and in health” to heart, while dedicating their lives to becoming “one” and remaining so. True to their pattern of togetherness, both were recently admitted to hospital and accommodated in the same room at Netcare The Bay Hospital in Richards Bay.
During their hospital stay, the Mahlalelas captured the hearts of staff, management and doctors, while they dispensed advice on anything from the secret to a happy marriage to how to live a long and fruitful life.
When asked what the key to a lasting marriage was, the sage centenarian, who has been married to the lovely Florence since 1948, said the answer was elementary.
“It is the principle of two becoming one and remaining so, as set out in Genesis 2:24. It is when one individual leaves that things fail. The two must be one in all things.”
On the subject of a long and fruitful life, the husband said. “If you obey your mother and your father, as charged to do in Ephesians 6:1, you will have a long life.”
He said he believed in prayer and trusted in God, and had therefore always felt blessed.
During their marriage, the Mahlalelas welcomed 11 children into the world, though three of them died.
Mr Mahlalela thanked the staff for taking good care of him and his wife and asked that a photograph be taken of the team who cared for them, so that they could remember them.
“We saw and felt that the staff took good care of us,” said a thankful Mr Mahlalela when the couple were being discharged from hospital.
Everyone was hanging onto their every word and when discharge day came on February 3, there were fond farewells all around.
“The Mahlalela couple have crept into all our hearts during their hospital stay,” said Mduduzi Ngubane, the hopsital general manager. “Mr and Mrs Mahlalela are an inspiration to us all and left a lasting impression on our hearts.”
Pretoria News