Not many couples get to the stage where they can celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary, but one couple from Wasaga Beach, Ont., is among the lucky few.
Lois, 84, and Alexander (Alec) Boyter, 88, will mark their 65th anniversary on March 28, but their family has a celebration planned for Sunday at the Wasaga Beach Community Presbyterian Church.
Speaking to Global News about their milestone anniversary, the couple was happy to share a few jokes and impart some wisdom about how they had made it this far.
“I would say number one would be commitment. You have to commit to it,” Alec said. “Respect. You have to have respect for your spouse or you would never be there.”
“I’m a little bit handicapped,” Lois added, “and Alec just seems to keep going, and he does so much for me.”
The couple, who share three children and many grandchildren, were married in Scotland in 1959 before immigrating to Canada in 1966.
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“We’ve been here longer than we were in Scotland,” Alec recalled. “We came over to Canada to get away from life in Scotland. Because of life in Scotland, I was a clerical officer, but there was no future for our children…
“The one thing that’s important in the marriage is to be committed to your family and know what you’re doing. I think we did okay,” he said, laughing.
When the Boyters first came to Canada, they set up home in Scarborough. They moved around in the years that followed and eventually settled in Wasaga Beach for retirement.
Having each other, Alec says, was an anchor through all of life’s changes.
“We’ve been together, and we’ve been committed, and we’ve planned things with (each other). We’ve never done anything on our own. We’ve always discussed things first, and this is a big thing, you have to discuss,” he said.
How did you first meet?
Alec and Lois both laugh when they recall the cheeky story of how they first met.
Lois, originally from London, England, says the two met when she went back to visit the village her father was from, next to the village where Alec lived.
“I would go up there on holiday all my young life. The one year I met Alec, the busses were on strike, so he couldn’t get to see his girlfriend. So, he took me out,” Lois said.
Alec remembers the meeting a little differently, saying he first noticed Lois the year before, after the weekly dance.
“This girl walked past. I said to one of my pals, ‘Who’s that?’ He said,’ Oh, that’s Lois Allan.’ And I said, ‘Oh, she looks okay. Where does she live?’”
Alec, however, says he did not pursue Lois at the time because she lived 45 minutes away.
“I said to hell with that; it’s too far. So I did not see her that year, but the next year I did.”
Lois says Alec won her over with his singing voice. “He caught my eye right away. I was glad the busses were on strike…
“I had a job in England that I had to go back to, so we wrote to each other for a whole year. Then I moved back to Scotland, and we got engaged, and a year later, we got married.”
What advice do you have for newlyweds?
The Boyters say their best memories are the ones with their children. Both said in tandem that they are a very close family.
As for their advice for couples just starting out, they say it’s important to be truthful and forgiving.
“We’ve had our differences, but we just don’t bear a grudge. My mother used to always say, never go to bed angry,” Alec said. “We have our differences? But, you know, after 65 years, who doesn’t?”
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