Wednesday, January 21, 2009

My Brother-in-law

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What happened to the rest of December?
What has happened to two-thirds of January?
What happened to my stay in New Zealand? In two weeks I set sail again on the good old Gazellebank heading via the Red Sea for Hamburg, Europe and most of 2009.

Of course, most of what has happened during my stay at Gerolstein has had something to do with horses.
Even Christmas Day (which we don’t observe) was marked by our three yearlings getting their hohohos by destroying a fence line.
But New Year’s Eve was celebrated in a wholly unhorsey way by the most important event of the season, and it took place on the other side of the world…
On 31 December 2008, in Leicestershire, England, my beloved younger brother John and Greg, his partner of forever (well, 37 years is pretty much forever) were officially, and with quiet ceremony, joined in the male x 2 version of marriage. The first marriage in my direct family since … my parents!



How I should have loved to have been there.
And, sitting here, raising my first glass of champagne since my self-imposed 2 ½ month ‘dry season’ to them, I can’t deny just a tiny pinch around the heart. Ian and I (who, of course, were cut short at 31 years of life together) never did go ‘legal’. But I guess we were as good as…

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