In 1992, a young Christian woman took a chance on POST's Lonely Hearts column. Three decades later, Sean and Pamela Singh share their remarkable journey from newspaper advertisement to lasting love, proving that sometimes the perfect match is just a letter away.
The couple said they took a chance 33 years ago when they wrote in to the POST’s Lonely Hearts, in the hopes of finding "the one".
Pamela, 57, said she was 25-years-old at the time and had just come out of a relationship because of differences in religion.
She said her friend suggested she write to the newspaper.
“I was in a relationship, which did not work out. I needed to meet someone that shared the same interests, including my religion. That's when my close friend told me to write to Lonely Hearts,” said Pamela.
So in 1992, with the help of her friend, Pamela wrote the following advert: “Young, Christian, single lady looking for a committed relationship."
“My mother always said 'don't take chances with pen friends, they lie to young girls'. I cannot remember my pen name because my friend actually wrote on my behalf."
After her advert went out, Pamela, who was working as a receptionist at the time, got many responses. One of them was from Sean, who had a business in Ladysmith.
“I received an envelope from the POST containing lots of letters (replies) to the advert. The first letter I picked up was Sean's and it had a contact number. So I decided to reply to him."
After contacting Sean, the pair decided to meet in July of 1992 in Pietermaritzburg.
Pamela lived in Pietermaritzburg, so Sean drove from Ladysmith to meet his potential wife.
“I had to meet him in Pietermaritzburg because he didn’t know his way around. After we met, I brought him back to my home for lunch where I told my mum a ‘friend’ was visiting, so she cooked a big lunch for us. We spoke about families and he told me his dad wanted him to get married,” said Pamela.
“I was a bit nervous because I was meeting a stranger and was not sure of the person he was. But my mum liked Sean immediately."
In a small twist of fate, it turned out Pamela's neighbours knew Sean’s family well.
“She saw his car with a Ladysmith number plate and that's how she knew it was the same family she knew,” said Pamela.
After the pair started dating, Sean visited over the weekends but it was difficult being in a long distance relationship.
However, they made it work and on June 26, 1993, the pair got married at Our Lady of Good Health Catholic Church in Pietermaritzburg.
The couple also went for marriage classes before the wedding with the Catholic church as it's one of the requirements because Pamela was Full Gospel and Sean is Catholic.
“It was a big change for me,” she said.
“We had 1 000 people at our wedding but three months before our wedding Sean's dad passed away and it was a tough time for him. We were not sure if we had to postpone the wedding. But Sean's mum said we should continue. The wedding was beautiful. We served mutton breyani. We couldn't have a dance because of my father-in-law’s passing,” said Pamela.
The happily married couple now live in Pietermaritzburg, while Sean works as a chief admin clerk and Pamela as a payroll officer.
Sean, 56, said Pamela was loud and outgoing, while she described him as a quiet and humble person who didn't talk much.
“We both loved our faith and spent most of our time building our spiritual lives,” says Sean.
“Married life has been excellent so far. We have our fair share of difficulties. Life is not perfect but we have trusted in God who enables us each day to live up to our unity and share our love for each other and our family,” said Sean.
He said he was grateful for the POST’s Lonely Hearts column for uniting them.
“Lonely Hearts brought us together. We found love, built our relationship and we got married. People were surprised or shocked when we told them that we met through lonely hearts.
“Even young people laugh but at the same time are shocked that Lonely Hearts was something that existed in our time. I actually used to think why the POST stopped lonely hearts because I would recommend it to someone looking for love or companionship,” said Sean.
The couple have a 29-year-old daughter who is married and a grandson.