Library visit paid off – handsomely
Surprise 30th celebration for couple
DENISE Rademeyer and Chris Nazer never expected a trip to the Korsten library would turn into a romance that would span three decades and lead to two children.
The couple renewed their vows at the Plantation on Sunday in a celebration set up by their daughters Lana, 29, and Faith, 23. The sisters decorated the party area with photographs of the family, dating back to their wedding day.
Denise and Chris’s daughters surprised their parents with an anniversary party and vow renewal ceremony on Sunday where all their loved ones, friends they met on their journey of marriage and those they met while still dating, had gathered.
Chris bought his wife a new ring because, according to their eldest daughter, Lana, her mother had been dropping hints. “My mother suspected something was up but had no idea about the ceremony.
“My dad presented her with a new ring, and my uncle and aunt gave a speech congratulating them and we hung pictures up telling their love story and journey of how they got to 30 years of marriage.”
Denise met Chris on a late afternoon in 1978 after she had gone to the library to study. Because it was so dark when she had to leave, she asked him if he could walk her home.
“When I saw Chris, I knew that he was walking in the same direction as me. I felt safe enough around him because even though I didn’t know him that well, I knew his family and that they were good people,” Denise said.
The couple started dating almost six months after their initial meeting and dated on and off until Chris proposed six years later.
Denise, a teacher at Van der Kemp Primary School, said she and Chris had both lost their fathers when they were young and when Chris showed up at her house in Schauderville with his mother one day, she knew that he wanted to talk about something serious.
“I was madly in love with him and there was no won- dering if I should marry him, because he was the one I wanted to share my life with,” she said.
Chris, a retired principal of Hillside High School, remembers that day.
“I brought my mother along to the proposal because I wanted to do things the right way.
“Denise’s politeness and friendliness were some of the qualities that drew me closer to her and continue to do so even now,” he said.
The Aspen Heights couple got married on Chris’s birthday at St Michael’s All Angels Anglican Church on June 22 1985 in Jameson Road, Schauderville. “It was the windiest day we’d had that year and my veil was blowing so hard.
“Luckily, our photographer managed to take some beautiful pictures,” Denise said.
The couple say Lana and Faith kept them “very busy” over the years with school activities when they were young.
Active members of their community, the Nazers work with a group called the Lay Associates of Good Shepherd Sisters, which is working towards building a creche in the embattled Vastrap area, near Booysen Park.
“Good Shepherd Sisters already runs a weekly soup kitchen in the area and we are now working towards getting the children in the area a creche so parents don’t have to travel far,” Denise said.
Chris said even though marriage had not always been easy throughout their 30 years together, he had enjoyed the pleasure of his wife’s unwavering support and his two girls had brought him all the joy in the world.
While Denise said even though at times she might have felt neglected by her husband because of his work commitments, she never felt unloved because he was passionate about his job.
“Eve though he had all these obligations being the principal of a school, I simply loved and supported him.”
The couple said they had put God at the centre of their marriage and through Him, they had been able to love each other this long.