Features

A love that was meant to be

By LEIGHTON WILLIAMS, Staff Reporter

Leslie and Lestina McBean are celebrating 59 years of marriage. - Leighton Williams

THERE IS NOTHING that one can do to convince Leslie McBean that his Lestina was not sent from heaven for him, as after sending dozens of love letters through her father, God must have had it in His plans for them to be married for this long.

Leslie, the pastor for the Calvary Church of God Inc. in Richmond, St. Mary, has been married to Lestina for the past 59 years. The couple married on March 29, 1946 in Richmond, St. Mary, after one year of courtship.

What convinced Leslie that his wife was 'sent from above' was after he prayed for a wife and he saw someone of Lestina's stature in a dream.

"I knew her from childhood, but I never dreamed that she would be my wife," said Leslie earlier in the interview.

The dream

"I wanted a wife and I prayed and asked God for one. I got a dream one night, but the person I saw in the dream didn't look like her although she had similar features. Is after everything now and things started to work out that I realise it was she that God wanted me to marry," he said.

Leslie, who is eight years older than his wife, said before his mother died he had no need for a soulmate since she would cook his meals and look after him. That all changed when his mother died very young and forced him to start looking for a woman.

Leslie, who smiled everytime a question was asked about his wife, said after his dream he made proposals to her via letters to her father. He said everytime he wanted to talk to her he had to send the letters. When she got the letters her father would open them and read their contents.

"I realised that she was a good girl because she was a Christian and I was one and we wouldn't do what others would do," he said after being asked how he felt about the situation.

Leslie, who was the more talkative of the couple, said he admired his wife because she was quiet. He said she was also very loyal to him, as she would accompany him when he went outside of his community to preach.

Lestina, on the other hand, said her husband was quiet, but she loved and respected him, nevertheless.

"I wouldn't change him for the world. I would have no reason to because I love him as he is," she said blushing.

The couple is the proud parents of 12 children, 11 of whom are still alive. They have 34 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren. Leslie said of the 11 surviving children only two are not Christians.

He adds that while the early years were rough, he has no complaints about his retirement years. Both he and his wife live in Portmore, St. Catherine, with their daughter. He adds that he still preaches and is happy his wife is still by his side in the ministry.