AS TIME GOES BY .......

A few days ago we celebrated another wedding anniversary.  It was a happy day....we didn't do anything special though because we were both busy with prior engagements..... but I was happy to know that the boy had not forgotten, as very early that morning....even before the birds had started their morning chatter....he had touched my face gently and whispered the words "Happy Anniversary"..... not knowing that I was awake.

We were married 48 years ago....and yet it doesn't seem that long.  The two of us not knowing what was ahead, but trusting in each other that we could make this journey together.  What did we know of life.... or of each other for that matter.  We just knew that we wanted to be together

How young we look in this photo....newly married and about to leave for the reception.... my husband somewhat nervous about the speech he knew he had to make....in front of  people,  some of whom he had never seen in his life before.....Oh the joy....and the terror!

                                                           

Almost ready to leave the reception...(me in my going away outfit which was the tradition for the times.)
I had made this outfit myself....a softly flared skirt and a three quarter sleeved jacket with boat neckline collar finished with a soft bow.... and the fabric was a beautiful sea green paper silk which I had bought in Thailand just months before. The headpiece was draped with tendrils of lily of the valley echoing the colour of the fabric, and those were my wedding shoes (white pearlescent leather).... and soft suede gloves .  It all seemed so important at the time.....

               Now lets move on a few years......                

 

And here we are celebrating our 25th anniversary with our beautiful daughters

Our girls eventually moved away to the bright lights, big city, to follow their careers....marry.....and have a family of their own....

And there we were again....back where we started....just the two of us.

What wonderful years they have been and what memories of those times.....
Yes... there have been disappointments....yes....there has been grief and pain with the deaths of much loved parents and a younger sister....but the joys far outweighed the sadness.

He tried to leave me....three times.....but the doctors brought him back... a little worse for wear....but he still had things to do on earth....obviously.   And so...as time goes by....another year comes and goes... and we are still learning about each other. The memory is failing....but not the sense of humour.

 How lucky we have been so far on this journey of a lifetime, happy in each other's company....making no demands of each other....just enjoying our time.... together

MEMORIES......

I have a folder of treasures tucked away in my life....they don't have any monetary value... and to anyone else coming upon them, they would just seem to be
scraps of paper, old cards, newspaper clippings, little drawings, and lots and lots of photos......but to me they are precious... and worth a fortune

I came across this folder a few days ago whilst on another mission.....as I opened it I knew my
day as planned was over and I spent the next few hours trawling through it all.....remembering....

Thank goodness I can still remember, though the mind is playing tricks as I age....but for some of my friends the memory has gone....never to return
Such a loss....and so very, very sad.....

So here are a few favourites from times gone by......my treasures


(Yes that's my Mum & Dad smiling above on their wedding day, 15th June, 1934. They look so happy, about to face the unknown, about to embark on the journey of a lifetime....together)

And here is my Mum again, just two years later, as Matron of Honour at my Aunt's wedding..... very stylish for the times

This is a much earlier pic, and is of my husband's father (George) with his two sisters, Jane & Smig....taken towards the end of WWI as he was preparing to leave for Boarding School
at ALL SOULS - Charters Towers. Only Smig is still with us, still a beauty aged 91 years

And here is a very special photo of five generations of women in my very own family....what a treasure to have

Sitting on front right is my great grandmother, (Mary Ellen) , my grandmother, (Iris Maude) , holding my daughter (Jan Louise) , back right is my mother (Rita Sybil May)
and me (Iris Merle)

It wasn't often that we got together as we all lived so very far away from each other, but here we all were and what a wonderful photo opportunity. My great grandmother died later that same year, aged well into her nineties....
she really was a treasure