As you can imagine, there's been a bit happening in my neck of the woods! I have prayed for the right partners for both of my children for most of their lives, and it is amazing to be able to at last put a face to the person that those prayers for my Andrew have been asking for - and she's the sweetest little redhead by the name of Ruth.
I had planned to include Ruth in one of my posts on Reasons to be Cheerful for 2019 but before I could put fingers to keys to share all about her with you, proposal preparations were underway and underwraps, so I thought I'd wait so I could let you in on the big news!
Ruth is sunshine in human form. It is pretty rare for there to be silence when she's around because she's busy filling it with her laughter - and you sure miss it when she's not around.
Funnily enough when she is back home in her native England, she says it is laughing she misses, so it would appear it is Andrew that brings it on. And a good thing too - a little less of his Mamma's serious side wouldn't go astray.
They met here in Australia in 2012 and remained firm friends when Ruth returned to the UK a year later. Andrew then spent the next five years overseas, four of those years in the UK, and they kept in touch. I was always happy that when he wasn't able to be home for Christmas, it was to Ruth's family he went. They had their times of more than liking each other, but theirs seemed like a story of continual sliding door moments. That was until March of 2019 when the doors quit sliding and we got the news they were together - well, as together as you can be when she was in England and he was living and working in Sweden.
Andrew came home midway through 2019, and before long, Ruth arrived in Australia for a period of volunteer work and it was a joy to have her. Andrew soon made plans for the proposal, with the pressure on to create the perfect ring and then the perfect setting before her return to the UK. Ruth had quite different ideas about rings, not at all keen on the traditional diamond. This left Andrew with the challenge of creating a ring centred around something he knew she did like but of which he was not overly fond - an opal. After some hush hush machinations, a white opal was suggested and a unique design created. In a beautiful bushland setting on Australia Day 2020, this little English rose agreed to marry her Aussie fella, and the deal was sealed with a ring sporting the most Australian of stones.
It has been a whirlwind because a week later, Ruth was back on a plane home to the UK. With a visa that only allows her to do voluntary work in Australia, she has headed home for three months to earn money towards the wedding which is planned for August this year. Where they will settle is presently dominated by the question of which country will both allow them to work the soonest after the wedding, without sending them broke with the crazy cost of visas.
Amidst all of the excitement, they have both decided they would love to be married at Bountiful! That was not something we ever envisaged when we bought the place, but what an adventure it is going to be. Watch this space ...
The song that was going through my head as I wrote this was such an oldie - the 1970 hit by British girl Mary Hopkin, Knock Knock Who's There? I hadn't realised it, but she sang the song as the British entrant to Eurovision in that year! If you've ever watched Eurovision and seen the dramatic production values of today, this clip is so gentle and cheerful and sweet - much like our Ruth.
Tracey 💍
With thanks to the YouTube channel of Leonthe4th for Mary Hopkin Eurovision 1970 "Knock Knock Who's There" (NFe2 remake re-synced).
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