60. How is it possible? And married to boot!

On March 14, Chrissie and I got as close to married as the current legislation will allow – that is to say, we did the legal deed last year (see below), but on Saturday, we confirmed our relationship in a formal, public ceremony and a most wonderful celebratory event.

We thought about it long and hard, over the past year, and finally decided to commit to a date and a format. I scoured the internet to find words that would suit a couple of old chooks such as ourselves, and believe me, it wasn't easy to find anything that wasn't soaked in religiosity or saccharine aspiration for the very young hetero couple.

So, a very postmodern pastiche developed as I picked up phrases and readings from here and there, and the result was really pretty fine, though I say so myself! If I can figure out how to attach a pdf of the ceremony, I will do so, and hope that anyone who would like to use it or adapt it for their own purposes will do so.

We had the marvellous Rosemary Follett to officiate – and as we'd hoped, she had just the right combination of gravitas and humour to make the whole thing work. We had our wonderful former neighbours, Jenny and Graham Scott-Bohanna as our Best Girl and Best Boy. We had Chrissie's closest friend Gail Winkworth, and my friend and colleague Jonathan Wills, to do the readings. And, most joyfully, we had the superb and brilliant Canberra Gay and Lesbian Qwire to sing for us! My dear brothers Kit and David MC'd and took photos respectively, and my mother, just turned 88 and none too sure about things, was there as well, singing along and having a great time :o)

There was food and drink galore, and lots and lots of wonderful presents ( I LOVE presents!!), and the whole day went off tremendously well. I feel incredibly blessed. AND, as if all that wasn't enough, we also had the beautiful and talented Jose from El Salvador to play classical and latin guitar music for us. It was all especially lovely because we were also celebrating my sixtieth birthday (god almighty). So how lucky am I!