The age of a ring bearer or flower girl typically ranges between four and 10 years, but Tayla Rogerson has challenged the status quo by asking her 103-year-old great-grandmother to assume the role at her wedding.
Rogerson, 28, of Gonubie, East London, is getting married on August 26. She and “Oumie,” as she calls her great-grandmother, have been best friends since she was born.
“Oumie is a very, very important person to me, so it will be amazing for her to lead me down the aisle as she was present when I reached all of my other milestones,” she said.
Christina Elizabeth “Bessie” Crous, known to be the glue that holds the family together, turned 103 on May 12, and will surely be making history as she has to be one of the oldest flower girls to walk a bride down the aisle.
Rogerson recalls Oumie, then in her late 70s, running up and down the passage and around the house with her as child. She said she was the person who taught her how to paint and, because she was a devoted Christian, she always prayed for her and her younger brother Dale, 25, and instilled her faith in every member of their large family.
“She centred her life on God and is still the most loving person who lives by God’s word,” Rogerson said.
Rogerson explained that she chose her great-grandmother to be her flower girl because she wanted to do something out of the ordinary and find a way to include her in the wedding as she has played, and continues to play, an important role in her life.
“I thought, why not that?” she said.
“Because I don’t have many young cousins, she and my 10-year-old cousin will be my flower girls during the wedding.”
Crous lives in a nursing home and walks every day to exercise.
“We must convince her every day that she needs to use the wheelchair because we fear she will slip or lose balance [when walking],” Rogerson said.
Tayla’s mother, Belinda Rogerson, 52, said: “Oumie is a very healthy and is not taking any chronic medication, even at her age.”
She confirmed that her daughter and grandmother are very close and are both very stubborn.
When Rogerson was young, she told Oumie one day when she gets married she will be her flower girl.
She said: “This is her dream so we pray God makes it possible”.
Oumie said though she does not like crowds and being in public, she was more than happy to be her great-granddaughter’s flower girl.
She said: “I am very old and I am worried about what could happen to me before the day comes, but I wish her a very, very, very happy healthy marriage life because mine was perfect.”
Oumie said she tied the knot with Sias “Oupie” Crous on January 27 1940. He suffered a stroke and passed away on March 28 2011.
She recalled how they met: “Oupie and I met under a street light, way back when the dinosaurs were still around. I went with a friend to go meet the friend’s fiancé, and my Oupie was with him and later in the evening Oupie said to his friend that he’d just met the woman he was going to marry.”
She said she does not remember them fighting and death was the only thing that separated them.
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.