In 1975 Jamaican Born Des Thompson Married Bajan Born Jeanette Walcott. Having Been Married For 48 Years, Together For 49 Years & Getting Ready To Celebrate The 5oth Anniversary of Being Together Next Year, They Spoke To TheOrator.Press About How They’ve Kept Their Love Going, The Importance of Friendship Within A Marriage And Making Room For Regular Romance Too. Plus Setting A Good Example For Their Four Beautiful Kids. And Their Six Grandchildren, The Next Generation
Still Active And Attractive At 75 And 67 Respectively, Des And Jeanette Thompson of The Windrush Generation Are Something of A Senior Black Power Couple Within The Black Community. They’ve Struck A Fine Balance Between Growing Old Gracefully And Still Being Fiesty, Trendy, Happening And Loving. It’s Impressive To See, Inspiring And Moving.
Having Met Them Whilst Covering A Windrush Day Event Last Year At Croydon’s WGLA (The Windrush Generation Legacy Association) We Simply Had To Follow Up With A Valentines Special And Find Out How They Do It.
Des Is Charismatic, Tall Dark And Handsome, (And Now A Silverfox), Full of Wisdom And With A Commanding Presence. His Wife Jeanette Is Light-Skinned, Green Eyed, And With Long, Natural, Shiny, Curly Hair, Friendly, Articulate, Artistic And Poetic. She Also Has A Great Love of Plants, From The Exotic To The Most Simple. They Have Worked Hard For Their Beautiful Home, Which Is Decorated Throughout With Them And Also In The Garden, Which Is Garden Perfect For BBQ-ing. Both Are Dedicated To Each Other And Their Large Family.
They Are Also Members of Their Local Church Community. They Love A Good Gospel Singing Session As They Embrace The Word of The Lord. Des Particularly Appreciates The High Energy, Uplifting Positivity And Joyous Delivery of The Gospel Celebration Because The Music & Power of This Style of Prayer Is Vibrant, Powerful, Strong And Energetic.
Des Is A Founder Member of WGLA (Above) And From Time To Time They Also Enjoy Events Organised By ACHA In Sutton (The African Caribbean Heritage Association). Jeanette Also Attends Regular Art Classes And Together They Regularly Enjoy Contemporary Social Events, Visiting Friends And Revitalizing Holidays.
They Are Both Community Minded. As A Former Electrician And Builder Des Is A Founder Member of The Pioneering Black Contractors Association (Est.d 1985) Which Was Patronised By The Likes of The Then Prime Minister John Major (Who Supported The Organisation As A Former Brixton Resident), Bill Morris The First Ever Deputy Leader And Later Actual Leader of The General Secretary of The Transport And General Workers Union (Later To Become Baron Morris of Hansworth), And David Pitt The First Black Magistrate for Hampstead. Not To Mention Councillor Joe Singh The Then Mayor of Lambeth.
As A Construction Expert, Having Been A Former Grand Master of The Organisation, He Is Still A Member of The Independent United Order of Mechanics. An International Friendly Society Which Has Lodges (Men) & Chapters (Ladies) Throughout The World, Including The Caribbean And Africa iuom.org
Jeanette Worked As A Secretary For Many Years, Including Working For An Economic, Social And Political Think Tank, A Computer Company And Des’s Construction Business. She Is Still Good Friends With A Number of Her Former Work Colleagues With Whom She Still Socialises And Holidays.
TO.P: You Look Incredibly Well. Obviously Marriage Suits You. So What Would You Say Is The Best Thing About Being Married?
JT: Well The Best Thing About Marriage For Me Is Being Married To The Husband I Have. I Wouldn’t Swap Him For The World. We Argue A Lot. We Do. There’s No Doubt About That. But I Couldn’t Imagine Being Married To Anybody Else. We’ve Been Married For 48 Years This Year. And Been Together For 49. So Ahh. Yeah. Look At Him. He’s Lovely!
DT: Well It’s Just Being Married To The Wife That I’ve Got. And You Know, It’s Working At It. We’ve Been Working At It And Getting It Right And Getting It Wrong. And Then Getting It Right Again All Those Years. It’s Not Easy But You Know, You Stick At It. We’ve Taken The Long Road.
TO.P: When You Say You’ve Taken The Long Road, What Do You Mean By That?
DT: Not Giving Up. You Don’t Give Up. You Know, That’s The Thing. You Have To Ride Whatever Storm You Go Through. And We’ve Been Through Some Storms. Family And Personal. We’ve Been Through The Rough And We’ve Come Through. Still Going Through. With Our Family And The Kids And You Know. But We’re There. She’s Been There For Me. And I’ve Been There For Her.
TO.P: What Would You Say Is The Secret To Keeping A Marriage Going?
JT: I Think You Have To Want To Be In It. I Think That The Trust That You’re With The Right Person, And The Trust You Have For That Person. And You Give. You Give And Take. And It’s Got To Be In Equal Measure I Think. I Think If One Person Was Giving All The Time And The Other Person Was Taking All The Time That’s When It Probably Wouldn’t Work Out. You Have To Have That (Valued) Respect For Each Other As Well As Love.
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