‘Day of the tea bag’ turns into true love
Flight of fancy transpires into 18 years of ‘monumental memories’
THEIRS was a romance that most couples could only dream of – flying around the world together. From buying shampoo on Fifth Avenue in New York, to clothes in Tokyo, this was how Natasha Campodonico and Selwyn Willis enjoyed their earlier years of marriage. Born in Cape Town, media personality Selwyn, 49, met Natasha, 40, while they both were working for South African Airways in 1995. He was a flight attendant, and an argument over the last rooibos tea bag was what brought them together, he said. “When I met Natasha, I was very much into fitness and weight-training. The only thing I drank was rooibos tea. We had just flown in from Malawi and I felt like some tea,” Selwyn said.
“Natasha had taken the last rooibos tea bag. I asked if we could share the bag because where I came from sharing a bag was normal. She refused and I let it go, but noticed how beautiful she was.”
The Humewood couple got married on April 26 1997 at the Assemblies of God church in Central and had a lavish reception at the Feather Market Hall where the who’s who of Nelson Mandela Bay showed up.
Natasha said when she first met her husband, she thought he was arrogant but “good looking”.
“I was already in a relationship when I met Selwyn but there was something about him that drew me in. When we met on the day of the tea bag, he wanted to leave me his number but I told him I’d give him mine instead. He pursued me for more than a month and we started dating on and off,” Natasha recalled.
When the couple met, Natasha was still training to become a flight attendant and Selwyn managed to organise that they do duty on the same flights.
BayTV programme director Selwyn proposed to Natasha towards the end of 1996 after dating for only eight months.
The couple have been married for 18 years and have a son Keegan, 15, and daughter Kelsey, 13.
Natasha, who works as a ward councillor’s assistant, said even though they were parents to amazing children, their marriage “is not defined by being parents”.
“We put God first, then ourselves and our children third. Because we come from single households, we show our love for each other, setting a solid foundation for the marriage and our children,” Natasha said.
The couple said relationships were built on small things that become monumental memories in a marriage. They also advised couples who wanted to get married, to spend some time together as a couple before getting hitched.