Bittersweet reminders
Their relationship was one of those rare gems — the type you didn’t believe could actually exist.
On this day, 38 years ago. An autumn celebration.
Mum and Dad, captured in a moment of genuine, pure joy on their wedding day.
Their relationship was one of those rare gems, the type you didn’t believe could actually exist. They were very different in lots of ways, yet they balanced each other perfectly.
They were alike in many ways too. Still smitten nearly four decades later. They remained full of gratitude and stood by one another through unimaginable challenges.
Dad is one of my best friends. Teenage me would have never imagined saying that! He zooms down the biggest slides on the playground with his grandkids. He continues to cook gourmet feasts and deliver them to our house during isolation, even while nursing a fractured rib from crashing his bike (classic Greg). We call him Greggle because he is like a walking Google search – he seems to know the most detailed facts about every random subject. Even sheep’s legs. He is a real life MacGyver – somehow able to fix literally anything in his sight. We are both so strong minded and stubborn but we manage to channel that to challenge each other intellectually and creatively. We are the same type of weird.
Mum was like a rainbow on the gloomiest winter day. An actual ray of sunshine in human form. She giggled and made fun of herself more than anyone I know. She never took herself too seriously, never felt sorry for herself. She would befriend complete strangers while out walking and the following week, they’d be at the house for afternoon tea, and soon they’d just be welcomed as part of the extended family. She would insist we dance to disco in the lounge room on a Sunday afternoon for no reason other than that’s what she wanted to do. Sometimes when I laugh I am reminded of her – you could hear her infectious cackle from streets away.
Every anniversary, birthday or milestone is now bittersweet without Mum. But she is, without question, impossible to forget.
Happy anniversary love birds. 🖤
