Laughter, closeness kept two together
[caption id="attachment_138348" align="aligncenter" width="500"] NOW: Alasdair and Patsy Mackay will celebrate their diamond wedding today. Picture: MIKE HOLMES[/caption]
Couple both loved dancing, shared many other interests
HONESTY, humour and living life as though you are attached at the hip are only some of the reasons why Alasdair and Patsy Mackay have had a happy marriage for 60 years.
Alasdair, 84, and Patsy, 85, will celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary on March 31, but will celebrate today with a party with family and friends at Stanbury Park, however, as it is Patsy’s 85th birthday.
The sociable couple met through a mutual friend in 1955 while they were both living in Durban.
“Alasdair went on a date with a friend of mine but she insisted that he go out with me as she believed we would be perfect for each other and as it turns out she was right. I have refused to let him go ever since,” Patsy said.
Alasdair worked at the Durban Fire Department while studying to become a fire and safety officer and Patsy worked as a statistical clerk for the Durban Corporation and studied to become a bookkeeper.
Alasdair, who was born in England and moved to South Africa when he was only 10 years old, said he was instantly drawn towards Patsy – who was then Patsy Gregan.
[caption id="attachment_138349" align="alignright" width="264"] THEN: Patsy Gregan married Alasdair Mackay at Belle Methodist Church in Durban on March 31 1956[/caption]
“We had common interests, we both loved dancing and we had the same sense of humour,” he said. In turn, Patsy said she was drawn to Alasdair because he had a beautiful way of speaking.
The Mackays have been living in Stanbury Park Retirement Village in South End for the past two years but upon arriving in the Bay from Durban in 1971 they lived in Framesby where they raised their three children, Sue (now Bursey), Ian Mackay, and Jenny (now Yakes).
Ian is an engineer in England and visits every two years, while Sue has recently returned from Abu Dhabi, and both she and Jenny live in the Bay.
The Mackays have nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Ian, Sue, Jenny and the whole family will all be at today’s party to celebrate with them.
“We have a very large family, scattered all over the world. “In that way we are wealthy with fami l y, ” Patsy said. The couple were married at Bellair Methodist Church in Durban in front of about 100 guests and they held the reception at Patsy’s home.
Patsy was 25 when she married – an age that was considered “rather old” at the time. “I was lucky because my parents never put pressure on me to get married young – they understood that I hadn’t met the right man yet,” she said.
Patsy said she wore a gorgeous white dress designed and made by her late sister Colleen, with an over-the-shoulder lace cover-up, while Alasdair looked dapper in a grey suit and a tie.
Alasdair attributed the survival of their marriage to honesty and doing everything together, and Patsy said that it was their shared interests.
“Even today we hold hands when we go to the shops or go to bingo and when we go out to meet our friends,” Alasdair said, urging all young couples to put in an effort towards making their marriages work.
