WS Chronicle

Alvin and Gwendolyn Robinson recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. Their marriage has had its highs and lows, but as they put it, as long as they put God first, the highs have and will always outweigh the lows.

The pair met in a grocery store and that meeting led to them dating for two and a half years. Following a short breakup, Alvin and Gwen reconnected and Alvin said he wanted to be with her, and they began dating once again. Soon afterwards, Alvin proposed and the two were married shortly afterwards in March of 1996.

“I knew I wanted someone that knows the Word and when she started speaking the word and living by the word, I knew she was the one for me,” Mr. Robinson stated about his wife.  

“He was a great dater and gave me everything that I wanted,” Mrs. Robinson added. “I still knew that he wasn’t exactly ready for me in a relationship at first.”

Traditionally, it is the woman who coordinates the specifics for a wedding, but due to Alvin being a very organized person, he took it upon himself to coordinate the wedding.  

“After he gave me the colors, I went to pick out flowers and things like that,” said Gwen. “I bought my dress off the rack at Dillard’s and he wore a borrowed suit.”

Gwen says that she knew from the start that Alvin was a hard worker and that he would take care of her and protect her. Gwen was actually six months pregnant with their first child, Barbara, at the time of their wedding and no one knew but them, said Gwen.  

The first couple of years for the Robinsons were “awesome,” according to Gwen. They dealt with a health scare along with a few deaths in the family, but their bond was very strong. Alvin ran his own business for many years until the terrorist attacks on September 11. Following that tragedy, Alvin lost several of his contracts, which put their family in somewhat of a financial crisis.

“We went from the supper club, down to the food bank club,” said Alvin about their financial crisis. “We didn’t have a refrigerator that worked in the house and we didn’t have a washer and dryer that worked either. We had to eat our food within one or two days, so it didn’t go bad.

“A lot of people looked at us and could not tell what we were going through. We didn’t know sometimes how we were going to make a car payment and our girls were playing AAU and we didn’t know how we were going to get them down the road with that.”

Even though funds were tight and they were fighting to pay bills, the Robinsons continued to pay their tithes at their church, because they knew if they continued to do what they were supposed to do, the Lord would bless them exponentially.  

The Robinsons had filed for bankruptcy during that time in order to save their home. They continued to fight and were able to get back on their feet. With Alvin being such a hard worker, it bothered him tremendously to be in that situation, he said. 

Their first three children together were girls: Barbara (1996), Kayla (1998) and Sheila (2003). In 2013 Gwendolyn got pregnant with their son, Alvin Michael. He was born with some developmental challenges and many people told them that could be the demise of their marriage, especially dealing with everything else that was going on in their lives at the time.

Having their son actually did the opposite for the Robinsons and brought them closer together as a family. “I kind of threw myself into taking care of Alvin Michael, so a lot of days we were on the couch and we were missing some connections, because of what I had to do with Alvin Michael,” said Gwen.

“So, even though that could have definitely ripped the marriage, because we were dealing with someone with challenges and your focus is on them, but it didn’t, it actually brought us even closer together.”

One of the things that has come to define the Robinson family is their heart for giving. Gwen and Alvin both have nonprofit organizations and they have instilled that into their kids. Barbara and Kayla have their own nonprofit organizations as well.

“We have absolutely always had a heart for giving,” said Gwen. “One of the reasons that really made me love him was his love for children. A lot of people think we get checks from a lot of different organizations, but most of what we do comes out of our pockets.  

Alvin brought up the example of his annual golf tournament for the Winston-Salem Stealers basketball organization. He says that 100% of the proceeds goes toward the Stealers’ organization and he keeps nothing for himself. Over the years, he estimates they have raised between $40,000 and $50,000 from the tournament.

As their anniversary was approaching, their 7-year-old son told them they needed to get remarried. That prompted them to begin planning. They did not schedule the party for their actual anniversary date, but instead chose the summer so more people could become vaccinated.

“My son kept almost demanding that we actually have a wedding,” she said. “We had all these ideas and I had a certain way I wanted things and he wanted things a certain way. I know they say men don’t really worry about the wedding and the planning, but he does. He was into everything about the wedding.”

Gwen stated there were a few hiccups during their anniversary party. The singer was a no-show, the music was not quite right, the menu was off, and they threw away their food. Even with all of the chaos, the Robinsons still say they enjoyed their party.

Alvin stated that one of the biggest things that he had to learn was that he was so focused on being a father, he forgot about also being a husband. He says now that he has realized his shortcoming, he makes it a point to spend quality time with Gwen to keep their relationship strong.

Half of all marriages end in divorce, so for the Robinsons to make it to 25 years is truly an accomplishment. Alvin says his advice for a successful marriage is to trust in God, believe in your wife, believe in yourself, and to stand on God’s word. Gwen’s key to success was to be with someone through changes in life, for better or for worse.