Teenage Sweethearts at Resthaven Mitcham
Margaret and Max Lee
After more than 50 years of marriage, Mr and Mrs Max and Margaret Lee of Resthaven Mitcham have celebrated many a Valentine’s Day together!
The couple met at primary school more than 70 years ago, and were part of a group of church friends, attending church services and dances together.
Mrs Lee remembers that: ‘For the [Valentine’s Day] dances, we always dressed in our prissiest and finest dresses, with a spray of roses pinned to our dress.’
‘I would make the rose sprays from my father’s roses for everyone.’
One of the couple’s favourite things to do was go to dances at the ‘Palais’ on North Terrace, opposite the old Royal Adelaide Hospital.
‘In our day, romance was going out to a dance, coming home from that dance, and having a kiss at the front door,’ says Mr Lee, adding, ‘That is, before Margaret’s dad would come tell us it was time to come inside!’
‘Both of us enjoyed going to the pictures and sitting in the back row at the Croyden Theatre (which is now a supermarket)’.
‘We would share a Fanta and read about the film stars we loved – Humphrey Bogart, Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor, and Joan Crawford, just to name a few.’
The couple were married on 2 March 1957, when Max was 18 and Margaret 17.
Mrs Lee remembers travelling to Coober Pedy and Max buying her ‘the most beautiful opal necklace you have ever seen.’
‘I only wore that necklace on special occasions,’ she recalls.
Mrs Lee now lives at Resthaven Mitcham, and Mr Lee visits her every day.
The couple will celebrate their 51st wedding anniversary this year.
Resthaven Mitcham is just one of Resthaven’s eleven fully-accredited residential homes across South Australia, with a twelfth home opening at Aberfoyle Park in mid-2018.
Resthaven also supports older people to live independently in their own homes through our community services locations in metropolitan Adelaide, the Murraylands, Fleurieu Peninsula and Limestone Coast.