FROM MY HUSBAND ON OUR 30TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

18th January 1999, 1 Oberon Crescent, Gordon, NSW 2072, Australia.

We had an informal ceremony in the back garden with my parents, Josh and Bec, and Caroline and Warwick Foy, our next door neighbours.  Josh ‘gave me away’ to Gerald.

This is what Gerald said to me :

“We got married in Chingola Zambia on 18th January 1969.   At that time, at the age of 21, I believed the words we said to one another to be true and that we were declaring to the world that we would be together and there for each other for the rest of our lives.

However, when I made that promise, I had no idea what I was actually saying or the importance or seriousness of what was being carried out at that time.   It felt like the right thing to do and we loved each other and we wanted to be together.

We know now that it hasn’t been all plain sailing and that the words we uttered back in Chingola at that time, have really been tested more than once. But we are here today and we are together.

Today, 30 years on from that day in Chingola, we are looking to the future and to our next journey in life.  Before we look forward, not to look back would be a gross oversight.  Not talk about the wonderful things that we have shared and been through together would only be telling part of the story ….

We have loved.

We have cried.

We have shared moments rare and beautiful.

We have seen wonderful things.

We have visited incredible places.

We have touched many lives that have enriched our own.

We have eaten from the plates of many people from many lands.

We have shared our plate with many who today may not even remember us.

We have achieved what could have seemed the impossible for a young couple coming from Chingola.

We have learned together and separately, not only academically, but of life and living itself.

We have climbed the mountain of the commercial world together, and chose to create a way of life that suits ourselves.

We have been blessed with having our families with us.

We have failed at many endeavours and been wiser by the experience.

We have laughed at things until our sides split and today still have those special memories to share, time and time again.

Last of all, but by no means least, our journey has given us a son.   A son so wonderful that even our wildest dreams and fantasies could not touch the greatness of how he is.   When we dreamed of how it would be to be a parent -  and how we would manage, cope, and thought about what sort of parents we would be and what we would not be – I know now that we did not know anything of the truth.   Yet we together have built a set of ideals and principles that have been infused into the make up of our Joshua, and together with those of his very own, have produced a magnificent human being.   I am immensely proud of him and of what we have and share.

Now, as we look forward to the next thirty years and on, I have some promises to make to you.  I make these promises though, with a head that is a little wiser, greyer, older and with a lifetime of shared experiences with you.

I promise you I will always be there for you.

I promise you that I will always support you in those endeavours that enrich your life and ours.

I promise you that I will support you financially.

I promise you that I will care for you and when I cannot do so, have someone else who can.

I promise you that I will look after my well being so that we can share a long life together.

I promise you that I will always be your partner in parenting our son (and any grandchildren!)

I promise that I will continue to be your lover.

I promise you that I will always be your friend.

I promise that I will always tend your garden.

I promise that I love you and will always love you.

I promise that I will be faithful to you.

I promise that I will always to loyal to you, your friends and family.

I promise you that I will never leave you alone.

I promise to be around to share the tough parts of our lives that are still to come.

I promise you that I will be your life coach where you need and want coaching.

I promise to be kind to you, your family and friends.

I promise you that I will continue to look for ways to enrich and fill our lives with experiences, excitement and enjoyment.

I promise to work hard.

I promise to share the workload of life.

I promise to ‘go the extra mile’ when all around us may look like crumbling.

I promise to share the rest of my life with you.

I promise me to you.

Lastly Sandra – I thank you for being with me through the last thirty years and I look forward to the next.   Thank you Sandra xxx”