If there’s a word that perfectly describes Pete and Jane Felton, it is smitten.
The couple canoodle and stroll leisurely hand in hand through the streets of Senglea, not just the place where Jane grew up but the cradle of many happy memories where their relationship began to bloom.
Jane was just 16 and Pete a 21-year-old naval officer attached to Fort Ricasoli when they met at 100, St Joseph Street, Senglea.
The couple, who celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary today, met in 1958, when it was love at first sight.
“The first thing he ever said to me managed to upset me,” Jane recounts with her mouth curled into a smile.
“I wanted some stamps,” Pete interjects, “and I saw her on the street and asked her, ‘where can I get some stamps little girl?’ and her face went red, ‘Little girl’, she said, ‘not me!’,” he says with a chuckle.
The pair were introduced via a lodger who lived in an apartment above Jane’s family home. The lodger, who was a friend of Pete’s, had invited a number of people over for Easter, which also happened to fall on Pete’s April 15 birthday. Enamoured of Jane from the get-go, Pete spent quite a bit of time looking down from his friend’s balcony to catch a glimpse of “the most beautiful girl in the world” before working up the courage to ask her to go for a walk on the Senglea waterfront.
“That’s all we were allowed to do 60 years back,” Jane quips, earning another hearty chuckle from Pete.
“We’ve been blessed with a good life and a good marriage.”- Pete Felton
Of course, they weren’t alone, courtship being what it was: Jane’s older brother would often follow the pair from a distance while the couple would make a game out of losing him around a sharp corner.
“It was the most enjoyable time of my life, I loved every minute of it,” Pete says.
Marriage was quickly proposed and eagerly accepted between the two. However the road to wedded bliss wasn’t initially a smooth one for Pete and Jane. After asking permission to get married, Pete was sent home to England for a time by his superiors, to discourage him from settling in Malta and phasing out of the navy.
Jane also found some opposition from her family, given her age, their different religions and having to relocate to England.
“There were many things working against us not to get married,” Jane says, “but it must have been meant to be, with all the things that happened, I’ve never regretted it.
“We’ve been blessed with a good life and a good marriage.”
The couple’s daughter Alison says that Malta was always a big part of the family’s life, which is why it was imperative to return for their wedding anniversary.
“This will always be where we come back,” she says.
“It’s our second home.”