Real love - 70-year vow still holding

Nashauna Drummond, Lifestyle Coordinator

Walburn Ritchie has developed a lot of wisdom in his 97 years of living. He knows about a lot of things, one of which is marriage. His advice for a life of wedded bliss is to "find someone who sees value in you".

He found that person in Sybil, his soft-spoken wife of seven decades.

"We had nothing, but that was real love," Ritchie told Outlook recently as he and his wife returned to the island from their home in the United States to celebrate their 70th anniversary.

A St Mary native, he is the only surviving one of 16 siblings. He met the woman who would be his wife after he moved to Kingston as a tailor's apprentice. He said the first time he saw her, he was wowed.

"We clicked immediately," he said. Like a modern-day Romeo and Juliet (without the tragic ending), it was not a union her mother approved of.

"Her mother didn't like me because all I had was a pair of scissors," said Ritchie.

Today, they are still together and are as happy as can be with Ritchie proclaiming, "She is my queen."

For Sybil's part, her 'Wally' "is everything I could ever want". Her tip for a long-lasting marriage is "respect for each other and communication".

"Marriage is a very serious thing," said Ritchie. "It's a contract; if you break it, you have to face the consequences. Today, it has become a social affair. Marriage is a constitution instituted by God to build good generation. There is no perfect marriage, but there are blessed marriages like ours."

Ritchie said too many young people are getting married for the wrong reasons. "As human beings, we are attracted to each other by looks, but it is not the looks we are going to live with, it is character."

He sees marriage as a triangle with God on top, man at the right and woman at the left. "You can't have a successful marriage without God."

Every facet of his life is ruled by putting God first. During the interview, he constantly spoke of the gospel, having attended theology college back in the day.

At 68, he went back to college to get his psychology degree. "I finished when I was 72, and that was to encourage people that you can get anything in life if you concentrate on it."

He said that a desire for higher education was one of his main reasons for migrating in 1978. "A lot of people think it's greener pastures. What I wanted was a secondary education."

According to him, there are two ways of making a living, "by your brain, or by your hands," he added noting that everyone has knowledge but not everyone has wisdom.

The Ritchies certainly have wisdom. What they treasure most, though, is love.

It was a happy moment for the long-time husband when his beloved wife handed him a card that read, "Wally, I have enjoyed my life with you."