Last year, a Facebook friend was going on holiday with her family and her husband had lost his passport. I followed her posts with great sympathy as they searched in every corner of their house and beyond, coming to a point where they had looked into him going to get a new one from the passport office, it was a few weeks of total stress. Eventually, a few days before their departure, they found it in the handbag of their three year old daughter...I was so happy for them!
I am taking Jake, Caleb and Phoebe to Cyprus in October to see my Mum and her husband, Denis. It's been 9 years since we last went, so Jake felt, as it was coming up to his 16th birthday in November, that this should be the year to go. At the beginning of this year I found really good Easyjet flights from Liverpool to Larnaca and decided that we could combine our Cyprus trip with a call in to see the Woods family on either side, getting a bit of Grandma time in with my gorgeous grandson Rowan and his equally appealing parents, Ellie and Conor.
All good so far, I hear you say...
My Mum had been really generous and super organised, offering to pay for the kids passports that were needing renewed, as well as hiring a villa for us to stay in, down the road from their home for our 11 day stay, so I got the forms and sent the paperwork off.
When the passports arrived I placed them all on the mantelpiece in the living room, as is my style of organisation. I like to see where things are, so I know I can access them if needs be. And there they stayed, with mine beside them..... until Thursday morning.
Phoebe picked them up first and decide to have a laugh at the photos, going through them all methodically, finally stating that Robin's was the last in the pile. I disputed this as I knew that Robin's was well past it's date and was in the filing cabinet in the 'passports and bank book' section while mine was sitting with the kids' ones.
"No, definitely Dad's", she said.
I was getting annoyed as she obviously couldn't read properly and I took it from her , only to realise that she was indeed correct and my passport was not where my brain had told me it would be.
That familiar feeling of nausea and panic started to settle in as I made my way round the house sorting through piles of papers, knowing deep down that the precious little book wasn't there but not having a clue where else to look.
I always tell the kids that God knows exactly where everything in the world is, so if they've lost anything, ask Him. Apart from the time where I managed to lose a wall art poster for James' Christmas by hiding it too well and to this day, despite repeated prayer on the run up to Christmas 2009, has never been found!
In 1998 we moved to Texas for a year and gave up our council house in the move. We knew the couple who were moving in, so had left all our furnishings and some furniture for them.
I managed to lose my engagement ring during the last few weeks, something that usually wouldn't worry me too much but on this occasion as we packed the final boxes and locked the door for the last time, it still hadn't turned up and I could only hope that it was inside a box somewhere and would turn up as we unpacked in our next home.
I went to Church the following Sunday and had told a few folks about my dilemma asking if they could pray and a friend came up after the service and said..
" I know this sounds mad but I believe that God told me your ring is sitting on a unit in your kitchen."
I thanked him, but knowing that I had scoured the whole house before we left, was pretty sure he had heard wrong.
The next day I got a call from the new occupants to say that they had walked in to the house and there was my ring sitting right in the middle of the kitchen unit, next to the sink and did I want it back?....I was speechless!
So leaning on past experience I sat in the middle of all the paperwork and prayed and I got an answer. I realised that I had used my passport for ID when I flew down to see Ellie, Conor and Rowan in February. I went back over what I had worn and what bags I had travelled with and remembered my handbag that I had used. I walked over to the kitchen door, found the bag where I had hung it, after coming back from the airport, reached inside and there was my passport with my boarding card and travel documents, totally untouched for the last 6 months!!
I was so relieved I could've cried.....
My number 33 couple, Stacey and John, are well travelled and decided to bring their last holiday in Australia in as the theme for their special day at Meldrum House. I was particularly looking forward to their wedding as I knew from Robin that Stacey, her sister Carly and brother Joe are all hearing impaired and after my experience of teaching Caleb to speak using Makaton ( a type of sign language), I knew that this would be a very special day indeed.
I decided to wear my Lindybop dress again, this time teaming it up with a wide leather belt and my new poppy pashmina for a bit of flare. I was driving ( again!), but actually didn't mind at all as we had spent a wonderful day on the Friday at David and Terry's wedding, as guests. It had been a brilliant day with great company and we had dragged ourselves away from the party after 11pm ( late for Robin and I!) while everyone else was still having a ball.
We could see when we arrived that building work had started on the new phase of the hotel, planning to replace the existing marquee that has been a feature for many years, with a new function suite and apparently more accommodation.
The ceremony was being held in the stables and as I stopped to take a photo I glanced down at the base of the fountain that sits in the centre of the car park and spotted a little naked swimmer! I've stood by the water feature on many occasions but never noticed this before, maybe he scoops up at the coins people throw in!
The room was full to capacity, each chair covered in grey with cream chiffon fastened at the back with a pearl brooch.The flowers were pink hydrangeas arranged with palm leaves and huge pristine gladioli.
I managed to squeeze myself into the last chair at the back, under the stair case, only realising that if I stood up I would bang my head off the ceiling. Thankfully I was sitting next to a lovely friend of Stacey's who saw my dilemma and moved over to let me stand upright as the bridal party came in.
Stacey's brother Joe gave her away, as they had lost their Dad, also Joe, ten years ago. He did a wonderful job and the service reflected their love for their Dad and how much he was still a part of all their lives, living on in their hearts and minds.
I was amazed at how well Stacey could lip read, seamlessly following Robin's lead throughout the whole ceremony, despite his Doric accent and his jibes at John for being a bad loser at the board games they played together.
He told us how they had met at the Wizard festival five years before, John being hooked on Stacey's fantastically bubbly personality straight away, he persisted in texting till she agreed to meet up and here they stood ready to commit to being together for the rest of their lives.
As their vows were read Stacey shed a tear, a bit overwhelmed with the emotion of the whole occasion and managed to say her I do with perfect timing.
Soon the new Mr and Mrs Rennie signed the schedule to Ed Sheeran's, Thinking out loud, and we followed them out into the courtyard to have a group photo.
We hadn't seen Jamie, the photographer, for about a year, so it was lovely to see him and meet his wife for the first time, having a rare day away without their kids!
We had a lovely relaxing afternoon, drinking tea and watching the world go by from the comfort of the huge leather chairs in the reception area. The weather held off as the photographs were taken and I got a chance to meet Stacey and John in the flesh for the first time,
Her oyster satin dress was sleeveless with delicate lace straps. The same antique lace ran all the way down to her train. The most beautiful ornate hairpiece sat at an angle on her hair with a full length veil that sparkled all the way to the floor and beyond. What a stunning couple!
As Robin introduced us, Stacey gave me a huge hug and I watched as she and John worked so well together, him filling in words that our unaccustomed ears didn't quite get and Stacey beautifully animated as she spoke. You don't realise till you see someone who is hearing impaired speaking, how much you must miss in normal conversation.There is so much more expression and touch involved.
Caleb had said to me the other day how he regretted not keeping up with his Makaton, now that his speech is so good and after spending the day with Stacey and John I think I might look into learning sign language together..it's not just a language, it's a real gift.
There was no lineup, so we headed down to the marquee and found that we were at the 'Gold Coast' table next to John's Grandma and Granda and other family.
Brenda, Stacey's Mum, stood first to speak and after she had got Stacey's undivided attention, told her how proud she was of her, knowing her Dad would've been too. Now a fully trained, successful hairdresser, we heard how in her younger years there had been a few disastrous hair cuts for her dolls and even one for her Dad.
John spoke from his heart saying thank you to their families and all who had supported them in making the day happen. He told us how happy he was to be able to call Stacey his wife and how much he loved her, something we could all see quite clearly.
Barry, John's best man did a great speech telling us of John's escapades when they were younger, apologizing for not believing John when he had tripped on a step at school as they were going to queue for dinner, only to find out later that he had broken his ankle! Apology accepted, we all toasted the happy couple and sat down to enjoy our meal.
Our name cards were clipped to corks that Stacey and John had been collecting for the last few years, even having enough left over to make a beautiful 'Love' sculpture that sat above the amazing 'Travel' themed cake, made by John's Aunt. I especially loved the little kangaroo.
The meal was served by the very efficient staff and we all enjoyed our choices, Robin ad I having slow roasted pork belly in a red wine jus as a main,' jus' delicious....get it? We had a lovely bunch of folks at our table and I enjoyed chatting to Grandma and Granda who have been married 54 years, having grown up in neighbouring farms when they were small. Robin sat beside Billy, John's uncle, who told him he did a mean ' Sex is on fire' on karaoke and would take over from the band given half a chance! We were very tempted to hang about an see if he really would!
I watched the top table as all the beautiful bridesmaids, in dusky pink and lilac, and groomsmen chatted. All so used to speaking with no volume, because, who needs to, right? I was aware that a lot of people in the room were amazing lip readers and had no need to hear what I was saying to understand. Stacey caught my eye during the meal, asking if I was drinking, when I said I was driving she caught it perfectly and told me that she and John always take turns and Robin should take note. All that without leaving the table...brilliant!
The cake was cut and we all had a laugh when John decided not to just stick the knife in but to slice the whole cake up..
The tables were moved to the sides as the evening guests poured in and we watched as Banff band, Wonderland, set up for the evening's entertainment. Robin went over to ask them for 'Sex is on fire' as a special request for Billy!
John and Stacey were soon leading everyone in a grand march which was directed by Sarah the wedding coordinator, with finesse and soon they were swaying to 'Amazed' by Lonestar, gazing intently at each other like it didn't matter who else was there.
Brenda had asked for a special request to be played next and we listened as 'I loved her first' by Heartland started to play.
It was only then that I realised that Brenda was signing the song to Stacey and John as they danced, locked in each other's arms. The whole way through the song she stood and signed the words and I can feel the tears welling up know even as I write about it, so you can imagine whet a mess my makeup was in after she had finished.
Stacey and John were totally unprepared and the tears were flowing for everyone as we applauded...what a fantastic thing to be able to do.
We had a little dance, but when Brown eyed girl came on I knew that was our cue to leave! We managed to tear John and Stacey away from their guests to say our goodbyes and she told me to drive safely and to keep an eye on Robin, she knows him so well!
I've got my passport in a very safe place now and my engagement ring is somewhere hanging about...it'll turn up. As for the new Mr and Mrs Rennie, I know they've found something very special that won't ever be lost, kept safe and secure in their hearts from this day on... x
Look at the two of you dancing that way
Lost in the moment and each others face
So much in love your alone in this place
Like there's nobody else in the world
I was enough for her not long ago
I was her number one
She told me so
And she still means the world to me
Just so you know
So be careful when you hold my girl
Time changes everything
Life must go on
And I'm not gonna stand in your way
But I loved her first and I held her first
And a place in my heart will always be hers
From the first breath she breathed
When she first smiled at me
I knew the love of a father runs deep
And I prayed that she'd find you someday
But it still hard to give her away
I loved her first
How could that beautiful women with you
Be the same freckle face kid that I knew
The one that I read all those fairy tales to
And tucked into bed all those nights
And I knew the first time I saw you with her
It was only a matter of time
But I loved her first and I held her first
And a place in my heart will always be hers
From the first breath she breathed
When she first smiled at me
I knew the love of a father runs deep
And I prayed that she'd find you someday
But its still hard to give her away
I loved her first
From the first breath she breathed
When she first smiled at me
I knew the love of a father runs deep
Someday you might know what I'm going through
When a miracle smiles up at you
I loved her first
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