Features

Standing the test of time

By WANDEKA GAYLE, Freelance Writer

Ronald and Menceleta Chambers at their 35th anniversary celebration last month. - contributed

RONALD CHAMBERS, 68, of Victoria, St. Catherine, had to wait four long years before he was allowed to make Menceleta, 56, his wife. But after sharing 35 years together, both concur that it was worth the wait.

"At the time, the church recommended that young people court for at least four years," Ronald told THE STAR, "That would give us enough time to know each other and to get our studies done. I, for one, felt obligated to wait the four years."

Menceleta added that while many people would fall prey to sexual intimacy over such a long period of courtship, the time gave her the discipline to wait.

"We did not allow ourselves to get too close physically," she said, "We never went to sleep at each other's house or anything like that. Even sometimes after church we would just talk for a while then go our separate ways."

Menceleta said that the four years were not a shackle because she got to know him very well, one factor she recommends for young couples totally.

However, initially, she had not returned his affection for her.

Ronald told THE STAR that he had met his intended wife when she was 18, back in 1967.

"I went to do Bible studies at her home. Her step-father was the only Adventist," he recounted, adding that that was when Menceleta caught his eye. "I did construction work but I was also a colporteur."

After Ronald and a senior church elder completed the three-month bible studies, the entire family got baptised. That was when Ronald decided to make his move.

GIVING GIFTS

"A church sister encouraged me that she would make a lovely wife and so I started giving her presents," he admitted with a smile. "I thought she had a great personality and a quiet disposition."

"But I was not interested in him," Menceleta admitted. His persistence and attention won out in the end and they decided to court.

"As time went by, I would even bring her things to cook for her supper, groceries and things like that," Ronald said laughingly.

The two were wed on July 15, 1970 at the Linstead Seventh-day Adventist Church and settled into their new life on Church Road, in Bog Walk.

However, soon Ronald decided to go to Mico Teachers' College to get his teaching diploma in early childhood education in 1981 just as all four children had entered school - two in primary school and the other two in high school.

At the time, Menceleta worked as an office assistant at a Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) branch in Spanish Town, St. Catherine. Ronald had worked at the Mount Industry All-Age School teaching grades five to eight since 1976 before he decided to study. "Things were not so difficult back then," Ronald said, "I paid for my tuition and Menceleta had to take care of things at home."

He said that for four years, he saw his wife only on weekends but she seemed to hold things together.

"I found Mama (Menceleta) to be a Christian woman," Ronald said, "And besides, she was not a waster. She knew how to use the little we had."

After graduation from Mico, Ronald taught at the Top Hill All-Age School.

Ronald and Menceleta Chambers are active members of the Bog Walk Seventh-day Adventist Church. Ronald is an elder and his wife, a deaconess.