Dave and Marg Beckwith are a well known and loved couple in the Hay community. Having been married 59 years this July, they know a thing or two about making a marriage work. “Opposites attract, that’s what they always say, and that’s true; you can’t start me and you can’t stop Marg,” Dave laughed. Marg was originally from Scotland, and her family came to Australia and then Hay when she was young. Marg grew up here, loved it and never left. Dave was one of the Beckwith boys, and was born in Hay. He went to St Mary’s Convent School which was both a primary and high school back in the day, and Margaret attended Hay War Memorial High School. All of the youth in Hay used to spend the majority of their time down at the river, and so they knew each other, had much the same friends, and got to know each other better as they grew older. They were going out together but things were not serious when Margaret was found to have Tuberculosis (TB), a disease which could have serious consequences in those days. “My father actually lost a lung, years earlier to Tuberculosis,” Marg recalled. “He was in the Army. They had buses coming to town, where you could get tested for TB. My dad suggested that it was a good idea for me to also get tested, so I decided to. “To my surprise, it was positive. I was tested at 2pm, and then went home. By 3pm, my own doctor had contacted me, and let me know about the positive test. Within two days, I was in Wagga being admitted to Gissing House, which back then was the Tuberculosis Ward.” For six weeks, Marg was in complete isolation, only being allowed to leave her room to shower and use the bathroom after all of the other patients had used the facilities. After that first six weeks, she was then per mitted to be in a room with others. She recalls the lady she shared a room with as being very friendly. “I had to have 46 tablets a day, and an injection a day,” Marg said. “I would have blood tests and x-rays once a month. Medicine has come a long way in a short amount of time, a lot of life-threatening illnesses like Tuberculosis were dealt with relatively easily a few years down the track. “But when I had it, it could’ve meant life or death.” It was upon Marg’s return that she and Dave picked up where things left off, and the pair be came much closer. They were married at the Catholic Church in Hay, on July 2, 1965, when David was 17. “I was just a young kid, I didn’t know whether I was coming or going,” he said. “But I knew we were in love, and we wanted to get married.” The young couple lived in a flat opposite David’s parents house in Strachan Place. Their first child, David Junior, was a toddler when their second child Tim was born. “I was working in the Postal Service, and was travelling away to train to become a linesman,” he said. “I left at six am, and then Tim was born two hours later.” Marg knew that the pains she was feeling meant that baby would be coming, so she got up, cleaned her flat and then went across the road to get help. She couldn’t find anyone, so then went to a neighbour, who drove Marg and little David Junior to her parents house where she left little David. “By the time I got to the hospital to have the baby, he was born pretty quickly,” she laughed. Dave didn’t know Tim was born until the Monday, and then ended up meeting Tim when he was 10 weeks old. “In those days, phones weren’t something you had in your back pocket, and we didn’t call every day. “I wrote Marg a letter, and said that if she wanted me to come back, I would leave the course and come home right away,” he said. “But we both knew that I was away training to make life better for the family, to get a better job and be able to provide more. So, we decided that I would stay. “It was such a different time, completely different times back then. “Later on, when I was a linesman, they kept the morse code telegraph system operational, just in case as a back-up, it’s amazing how many things have changed in a few short decades.” The couple moved away for a time, living in Deniliquin. “I hooked up with a rock and roll band I had played with, that was something I really enjoyed,” Dave said. “We would have gigs Friday and Saturday nights, and that was a useful way to bring a little money in. 'We won a local Battle of Sounds, and made it to the country final in Melbourne, and played at the Festival Hall, where the Beetles once played. "That was a real highlight for me.” Throughout the years, they have shared the highs and lows together, being each other’s source of support and dealing with whatever may come with the same stoic attitude. Marg laughingly says that she is the talker, and talks way too much, and that it annoys Dave. But Dave is emphatic that it is only because he is deaf, and pauses the tv so he can hear her, he doesn’t do it because he is annoyed. It is this kind of back and forth that is in credibly endearing, and the kind of banter a long time married couple would have. One of the many wonderful aspects that would be the key to a long and successful relationship would be having your own pursuits, separate from your partner and relationship, and that is something that Dave and Margie always have had. Dave still goes to church, although he says that attendance is a lot smaller these days than it was back in his younger years, having upwards of 150 people at mass. He loves his music, his Grazier, and his Men’s Shed and the camaraderie shared there. Margie has her gardening, her volunteering pursuits, and her happy social life. The pair are both blessed and loved around town, with a conversation with either of them enough to make your day. “Margie is the best cook,” Dave says proudly. “She has this way of cooking things, and jazzing up simple things like potatoes. “We had a niece come and stay with us recently, and she marvelled about Margie’s potatoes, she had added finely chopped onion and sour cream, she’s always been a top cook.” “Patience, and when you think you’re the boss, let your wife remind you of what’s what,” he laughed. “The old saying is true though, happy wife happy life.” “He ‘goes crook’ about the roses, he hates them,” Marg laughed. “I’m up at 6am and out in the garden most days, pottering around and dead heading roses. I love the garden, and we have a big backyard. I always talk about downsizing, but then suddenly I’ve bought another plant. It is so peaceful, gardening.” Margie has also been overseas five times, largely back to Scotland, as that is where her family originates. “I have no interest in going, but she loves to go, and good luck to her,” Dave said. Dave and Margie share a happiness, a positive outlook on life that is to be admired. “We always have to value each day, use it wisely,” Margie said. “My favourite saying is ‘the past is history; the future is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present’,” said Dave. Any person would be lucky to find a strong, enduring love and partnership which Dave and Margie have, and it’s all thanks to the beautiful people they are. A true match indeed.
