Features

A love everlasting

ian allen - Iris and Herbert Hendricks celebrating 39 years of marriage.

MORE THAN 35-years of happiness are how Herbert and Iris Hendricks described their marriage which has lasted for close to 40 years.

Mr. Hendricks who is 99-years-old and his wife, who is 95, could hardly remember the first time they met but Mr. Hendricks said he was attracted to his wife after seeing her around in the community. "I see her in the district and I started to go to her house," Mr. Hendricks said.

His wife returned his attraction and the couple, who lives in Brae's River, St. Elizabeth, started to date.

After dating for a while, the couple started to live together and were later married in a large wedding ceremony at Gillock Anglican Church on August 18, 1965.

Mr. Hendricks said he got married because he was on his own from an early age and he was tired of being alone. "I couldn't take the up and down so I decided to marry and be in one place," he said.

Both are hard of hearing, losing their sight and use walking sticks to move about, but their love for each other has not dwindled. "If she die, I would not remarry," he said.

'She alright'

Mr. Hendricks noted that he loves his wife too much to ever try to be with someone else. "She alright, she do everything that suit me," Mr. Hendricks said.

His wife, who was mostly quiet during the interview, told THE STAR that she loves her husband because he is caring.

The couple now spends time together by going to church, talking and sharing jokes with each other. They say the secret to the longevity of their relationship is the fact that they talk to each other about everything. "We discuss problems that arise," Mr. Hendricks said.

The couple has two daughters, one of whom now resides overseas. Emilyn Hendricks, one of their daughters who cares for the couple, describes her parents as quite close.

"I remember once my father was very sick, he had stomach problems and he had to do surgery. At the same time my mother had a sick toe and could not put on any shoes to go and look for him at the hospital, So you can just imagine how worried she was about him because she could not get to see him," she said.

Although she is not married, Emilyn says she would want a marriage similar to her parents.

In the meantime, Mr. Hendricks is not worried about dying before his wife. "We get to live a good life, and if one of us dies, we would just miss one another but we will have to go one day," he said.