Sarah and I had planned to be married exactly 30 years after we met as teenagers, in the town where it all started. A month out from the big day, with everything booked and paid for, the first lot of major lockdowns happened in Australia. Suddenly, every plan we’d made for the year was thrown into chaos. During the next six months, we waited things out in the hope that we could still have our wedding how we wanted. It got so frustrating at one stage that I was prepared to just have the formal part done at our local registry office before the end of 2020, just so that we could at least have that for ourselves.
Thankfully, it didn’t come to that. By August, due to the efforts of both our government and citizens, restrictions were able to be eased and we were finally able to return to the place we met to have our ceremony. The date we chose was Sarah’s birthday — September 18. To add to the special significance, we were blessed to have two of the former staff of the children’s home, where we met, be present in an official capacity — Sarah’s former Child Care Officer was her Matron of Honour and the home’s former manager walked her down the aisle.
Our life (and love) story has not always been easy, and 2020 was no different because of these extraordinary events. In many ways, it makes our special day all the more beautiful, because we were determined to fulfill our dream and now have sealed our commitment after 30 years — give or take 6 months. Love truly does conquer all, even when a global pandemic threatens to derail the best laid plans!
