‘Love is the bridge between you and everything.’- Rumi
“Our own life has to be our message”- Thich Nhat Hanh
With thanks and gratitude to Rosemary Grossman for the artwork and calligraphy
Our Wedding Day
Saturday 27 July 1974
Ceremony at St Osburg's Catholic Church, Coventry
Reception at the Blackdown, Royal Leamington Spa
Our Golden Wedding Anniversary
Saturday 27 July 2024
Stoneleigh Deer Park Golf Club
We Give Thanks for Now and Then
Our Golden Wedding Anniversary: Our Thanksgiving Day
Dear Family and Friends,
It is so wonderful to see you all here today, celebrating with Annie and I, our 50th Wedding Anniversary. Where have all these years gone!
Wow! What a beautiful and tasty meal we had. I wish to thank our host, Stoneleigh Deer Park Golf Club, for the wonderful meal and service, which we have all enjoyed.
Now, I want to share a breaking-news with you! Listen carefully! I shall say this only once!
Given how much we have enjoyed our day here at this wonderful venue, I am delighted to let you know that we have again booked this gorgeous venue for our 100th Wedding Anniversary on 27th July 2074!
You will be pleased to know that for that occasion all the tables will be wheelchair accessible and moreover, an accompanying carer can come with you for free!!
Please be on time! Very much looking forward to seeing you then!!
Now, reverting back to my speech, adhering to the wise words of a learned sage, Meister Eckhart, who said: ‘If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough,’ Annie and I very much wish our Golden Wedding Anniversary to be our day of thanksgiving.
Today we are full of joy and happiness, words cannot explain.
We are grateful and give thanks for all our blessings.
We give thanks for our Golden Wedding Anniversary, for our life journey together. We give thanks for the moments of joy and the simple pleasures of life. We give thanks to those who continue to love us, even though at times we may not be a worthy recipient of that gift.
We give thanks, remember and recall our loving parents, cherishing our growing up days in loving families.
We give thanks for our two loveliest sons, Kevin and Paul, the joys of our lives.
We give thanks for our loveliest daughter-in-laws, Sarah and Katie, sweetening our lives.
We give thanks for our gorgeous little princesses, our granddaughters, Robyn, Ivy, Isabel and Poppy, brightening and shining hope into our lives.
We give thanks for our extended families and friends.
We give thanks for our education, careers, what we believe, and what we do.
We give thanks for our retirement days together, helping and supporting each other.
We give thanks for the love of wanderlust, all the travels we have done, the countries we have lived in, the places we have seen, the inspiring friendships we have made, the wisdom we have discovered and the hospitality and love we have received.
We give thanks for all we have. These are the precious gifts we have received. Long may it be so.
And now, you, Annie, my darling wife, my friend, companion, and wise teacher,
Yes, it is very true: Love is life’s greatest gift. Love is all about friendship, commitment, communication, listening, caring, connection, dialogue, giving, sharing, humility, kindness, empathy, forgiveness, hopes and dreams.
And yes, it is equally true: You have all these noble values in plenty, in abundance.
Love belongs to the oneness of life, and you have so generously demonstrated what love is and what loving means. ‘It is Love that moves the Sun and Stars,’ wrote Dante, a sage of Italy. ‘Love is the bridge between you and everything.’- wrote Rumi, the Persian sage, the philosopher of love, or “Even after all this time, the sun never says to the earth, ‘You owe me.’ Look what happens with a love like that. It lights the whole sky.” — wrote another Persian sage of love, Hafez.
Looking back at my life’s journey, my darling Annie, I too would say that ‘Love’ is the meaning of life, love is the seed of all creation, and you, Annie, have enabled me and empowered me to water and nourish the seed of love I discovered first on that beautiful day in Oxford over 50 years ago. Together we have looked after that seed, we have turned it into a most beautiful tree, our tree of life, with beautiful flowers, fruits and more.
The tree has now become our anchor, our root, our hope, our dreams, helping us to rest and feel at ease in its comforting and healing shade, when we need support, coping with pain and aches of getting old, weak and frail.
We thank Kevin, Paul, Sarah, Katie and our loving granddaughters for this beautiful gift
All in all my darling Annie, thank you for who you are, thank you for being the conductor of this symphony of love that we have composed together. It is a beautiful masterpiece with a loving sound and a loving orchestra.
All said and done, Love is truly the Greatest Gift. Little by little we learnt more of its meaning and I hope, as we continue our journey of love together, we shall discover that in this love ‘our life is everlasting.’ Pursuing a life of unconditional love is an incredible, beautiful journey of ever expanding freedom and joy, peace and harmony. The more we engage in it, the more our lives become enriched by this energy. Thank you for your love and thank you for allowing me to love you. Thank you for our unconditional love for each other. Thank you and God bless.
Finally, We wish to thank Stoneleigh Deer Park Golf Club for a truly wonderful day. We thank Johnny Reay (Manager), and Louise Ariss, for all their support and care, the chef and his team for the loveliest meal they prepared for us, Karen and her team for their service and hospitality, Jane Mitchell and Claire Rheeders (Bar Supervisors) for ensuring we will not go thirsty and remain happy!
Finally, we owe a special thanks and gratitude to our beautiful and loving daughter-in-laws, Sarah and Katie, and my sister-in-law, Jackie, for all their help with flowers, table arrangements, centrepieces, and more.
Our Wedding Day and our 50th Wedding Anniversary:Now and Then
Photo Gallery
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Saturday 27 July 1974
Photo Gallery
...and now, all said and done
