HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, MARTYN & DAWN

On the 31st August 1991 our son and daughter-in-law were married - Martyn was 20 and Dawn was 18 - and I guess some may have thought that was too young - but they have proved that if you work hard together, then you can have a great marriage.

I was the Registrar in our church at the time, and we had 3 weddings booked for that day - it being Bank Holiday Saturday. I had registered one marriage in the morning but decided that I would let someone else do the next one, as otherwise it would be cutting it a bit fine to get home and changed ready to be the "mother of the bridegroom". I was also registering the marriage, singing whilst the Registers were being signed and of course, I took lots of photographs - however did I manage?

I sang The Blessing Song, shown here - the first verse and music of which was written by Marilyn Baker, a Christian singer/songwriter. I wrote the second verse but obviously had to get permission from Marilyn to use her song and the music and fortunately, she kindly agreed.

It was a lovely day - our younger son was Best Man and Dawn's sister was Chief Bridesmaid, together with two cousins, who were Bridesmaid and Page Boy and another friend who was also a Bridesmaid. Our friend, John Lamb, played the organ and the service was led by Brian Pearce, who was the Rector at the time, and Hilary Cooke, the Methodist Minister - all of them had known both Martyn and Dawn since they were very young so it was a very special occasion.

Martyn and Dawn now have two children, Charlotte, who is almost 17 and Joshua, who is 14, both of whom have featured in blips.

In this day and age, when marriages are breaking up, it is good to know that Martyn and Dawn's marriage has stood the test of time and we pray they will have many more happy years together.

Hope they both enjoy this song by The Righteous Brothers and that it brings back happy memories of their wedding day.

Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts,
always hopes,
always perseveres.
And now these three remain:
faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 & 13
New International Version