Christine Belsham, 68, tells her beautiful love story that began with a teen pregnancy…
Out of the blue, my best friend dropped a bombshell.
“I’ve been asked to the dance!” Chris beamed.
We’d been talking about the Taita Rugby Club social for months – and now Chris was going!
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“But…” she added, “there’s a twist!”
I braced myself.
“His mate Glen has a car,” she said with a wink. “And you’re his date.”
It was 1969, and aged 14, I knew winning over my strict parents would be nothing short of a miracle.
“We’re not letting an 18-year-old boy drive our daughter to a dance,” my mum, Catherine, said.
Playing my cards right, I mentioned that Glen’s sister was my teammate in the marching band.
Knowing there was a connection to my date’s family helped, and eventually they relented.
“Home by 10, not a minute later,” Dad said
The social was a blast! Glen and I danced all night.
It feels like we’ve known each other for ages, I thought, swooning.
Glen, the perfect gentleman, dropped me home right on time. Jumping out of the car, he came round to my side and opened the door.
“I’d like to call tomorrow,” he said, asking for my number and whipping out a pencil and piece of paper.
I was on cloud nine.
True to his word, Glen phoned and a beautiful romance blossomed.
Then, when I was 16, I missed my period, sending me into a tailspin.
Telling Glen, then 20, I expected him to bolt.
Instead, he took me completely by surprise.
“It’s our baby. We’ll get married and take care of it together,” he insisted.
When I told Mum and Dad, I could see their emotions were a real whirlwind of fear and love.
“Glen wants to do the right thing,” I said.
Wrapping me in a big hug, Mum gave me her blessing.
“Don’t worry, love,” Dad assured me. “It’ll be okay.”
Our wedding two months later was a simple affair at our local church. Of course, Chris was there with us.
The highlight was a gift from Glen’s mum – a bed that was our first piece of furniture.
Our first year of marriage was spent living with Mum and Dad, and just before I turned 17, I had our daughter, Natasha.
Moving into our own place not long after, life was busy.
I longed to grow our family, but getting pregnant a second time wasn’t as straightforward as I’d hoped.
It took three years, and the use of fertility drugs , before we were blessed with a son.
“It’s a miracle,” I sobbed, holding baby Kurt.
Four years later, another boy, Regan, followed.
Life with three littlies was frantic! But the dream was to own our own place, so Glen took extra shifts driving trucks, while I had an early morning cleaning gig, setting off before anyone had woken.
Eight years later, we had enough for a deposit.
By now, thanks to those early lean years, Glen and I were old hands at managing the family. He had his own business driving trucks and I worked nights for the post office sorting mail.
No matter what, I made sure we always ate a hot meal together.
“I’ll clean up and get the kids to bed,” Glen would smile after we’d eaten.
After trundling home from my shift, I’d find the house as neat as a pin. Even the nappies were on to soak!
Despite her earlier reservations, Mum declared Glen “a one in a million!”
“You’re the luckiest girl in the world,” she said. She was right too.
Glen was so upbeat and positive and could always find a way to make me smile.
In time, the kids grew up and got lives of their own, so when Glen sold his business in 1989, I suggested we see the world.
By then, I was 38 and Glen was 42, and we’d never left New Zealand.
“How about we visit our friends in Singapore?” I ventured.
That trip, which included visiting Hong Kong and China, kicked off a love for travel.
A few years later, for our 25th wedding anniversary, we went to the UK and Europe.
Every adventure from Vietnam, Cambodia, Canada, Alaska, Slovenia and Croatia, enriched our lives.
In 2007, I said goodbye to a corporate job I’d held for 15 years with Wellington Newspapers.
“I want to teach English in China,” I announced.
Glen was behind me all the way, and 18 months later, aged 50, there I was standing in front of my first class.
That gig lasted a year and was a dream come true.
Celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary in 2022, we made sure Chris was our guest of honour.
After all, with out her, Glen and I would have never met.
Thankfully we had not lost contact, and I was thrilled when Chris said she’d be there and she’d make a special cake.
Over the past decade, Glen and I have also faced some health scares and both battled cancer.
After we recovered, we established a charity, Kiwi Kindness, to support people impacted by the conflict in Ukraine, collecting five tonnes of clothing for refugees.
When the local council presented me with an award, I was touched.
“For helping give so many people a purpose,” the mayor said.
Today Glen and I have been together 54 years and we’re grandparents to three.
Natasha, 52, has 25-year-old twins. Kurt is 48, and Regan, 44, has a son aged eight.
People often ask me the secret sauce to a lasting marriage.
It boils down to taking care of eachother, sharing the load, sticking together through ups and downs, and finding every chance you can to laugh.
If I had to choose again, I’d choose Glen.
No doubt about it.
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