Love is still blossoming for a Robertson couple who have been together for over 70 years and will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary.
Lionel (91) and Patricia Kuiper (91) met 72 years ago at a birthday party in Pretoria.
Vivian Kuiper, the couple’s son says his parents have been an absolute inspiration to him from a young age.
“I used to work with him from the age of seven at an engineering workshop and he taught me everything I needed to know about life.”
He says his parents have been a good example of how people should run their lives.
“They live for each other,” says their son.
He mentions that some of the lessons he has learnt from them include that God is the reason for being and that you must be there for your family.
“As a man, your wife is your responsibility and you should live your life in such a way that she will respect you as much as you respect her,” says Kuiper.
“They have taught me that if you put God first, your family second and your job third, everything will fall into place.”
Kuiper says his parents will soon share their 92nd birthday together, his mother’s on 25 April and his dad’s on 29 July.
He says he likes to think of his parents’ birthdays as 80 years plus VAT, because it sounds better.
The couple has been living in Robertson since 1989, and this has been the longest period that they have lived in one place. They grew up in Pretoria, then moved to Zambia and then to Cape Town, finally ending up in Robertson.
“They met in Pretoria, my dad was an apprentice with my mom’s cousin and went to a birthday party with him. He met my mom on 20 July 1950 and they got married 18 months later.”
Kuiper says the family has organised a function on 24 April for his parents.
“My brother in the United Kingdom, cousins in America and my mom’s sister-in-law will be some of the family members that will gather here to celebrate my parents. We are going to be 60 people in all.”
