Couple’s love burns brighter than ever

Alan and Maisie Fisher are more in love now than they've ever been.

Alan and Maisie Fisher will be celebrating half a century together on Friday.

In their cosy two-bedroom flat in Tygerhof, the happy couple told Tabletalk how they met.

Maisie did all the talking aside from the occasional chirp and the odd grins from Alan.

The Fishers are moving to George after 41 years in the Milnerton suburb.

Maisie says they’re getting too old to take care of each other and are moving closer to her daughter.

Maisie was born in Observatory in 1946, the eldest of five children.

She met Alan in 1965 – the two of them were working at Barclays Bank at the time.

Their romance started to bloom after Alan asked Maisie to dance at a staff function.

“We danced, and he offered to take me home,” says Maisie. “I was sceptical because my father had already said he would fetch me from the train station, and also how was I going to explain this man coming to drop me off?

“I later spoke to my father about Alan, and all my father asked was if he was a nice man or not.”

The couple dated for two years after that; Alan proposed on his birthday, May 6 1967, and they married a year later on August 31.

Alan and Maisie had lunch with their family and closest friends last week to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.

Most might know Maisie as being part of the Seamount Primary Parent/Teacher Association; some know her as the chairperson of the Milnerton Ratepayers’ Association in the early 1980s, while others might remember her as the Ward 4 councillor in 1984.

“Being a councillor was a great experience and an honour. I’d like to think I made a visible and impactful difference in my community. A community which I love and grateful to have been a part of,” she says.

She won the election by 14 votes, she says, at a time when society didn’t think women had it in them to run for public office.

“I ran for re-election in 1990, but I lost out by three votes. In a way, I’m glad that happened, so that I could focus on my family.”

Maisie’s contribution to the community continued. She was part of Milnerton Lions Club – which only opened its doors to women in 2002 and which she became president of just two years later.

She says she couldn’t have done everything she did without Alan’s love and support.

The couple say they are looking forward to the new chapter in their lives.