WHAT do you get when you pair up a Scottish joker with a shy London nurse?
Botany couple John and Brenda Hume celebrate their golden wedding anniversary tomorrow.
“It certainly means a lot,” says Mr Hume.
“We still argue, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way,” smiles his wife. “We were made for each other.”
It’s been an exciting journey for the devoted duo, who met and fell in love while working in sunny Sri Lanka.
It wasn’t love at first sight, but the pair says friendship grew to something more in next to no time.
“I was working there,” says Mrs Hume. “I went out to nurse and met John through Scottish dancing. I think it was his sense of humour [that attracted me]. He’s just a lovely person.”
After a short romance, the dapper Mr Hume popped the question in a way guaranteed to make every girl swoon.
“I was proposed to at about two in the morning at the most romantic spot,” recalls Mrs Hume. “There were palm trees and the moon was shining. It couldn’t have been more romantic.”
Mr Hume’s can-do attitude saved his wife-to-be many a sleepless night leading up to their wedding day on January 25, 1958.
“I went back to England for four months, came back and he’d organised the wedding.”
The couple’s special day was a quiet occasion, followed up by a honeymoon in India.
After working in Sri Lanka for several years they returned to England in 1963, where they welcomed a third daughter into their brood.
In 1973 the family made the move to New Zealand and have been true Kiwis ever since.
“New Zealand is our home,” says Mrs Hume. “We’ve been a couple that’s never called Britain home. We’ve never been homesick for it ever and we’ve never regretted it.”
Another milestone is on the agenda this year, as Mr Hume celebrates his 80th birthday in March.
After 50 years together, the couple know a thing or two about what makes a successful marriage.
“Sometimes young people aren’t prepared to listen to each other and talk if something’s wrong,” says Mrs Hume. “She kisses well too,” jokes her husband.
Shared interests, as well as regular time apart, has kept their love alive.
“I like John to go to golf because I like time to myself,” says Mrs Hume. “He always has to be busy doing something. He gets a bit crotchety if he’d doesn’t have something to do.”
Mr Hume is a keen golfer, while his wife enjoys gardening and embroidery.
“We’re members of the Howick Square Dancing Club,” she says. “We have a lot to do with the family and have tried to keep active in various ways. We enjoy our dog Bonny and exercise every day.”
Tomorrow the couple cruise to Waiheke Island to celebrate their special anniversary.
“Family came along and presented a voucher for a day and evening on Waiheke,” says Mr Hume.
“It was thrilling and we were quite overwhelmed by it.”
