28 Years..........

I would like to thank a person who has been an integral part of my life for the last 28 years...To Jan, my wife. She has been and still is the light in my life, my lifeline and so much a part of me that I can not imagine life with out her.
She is a woman of whom I am intensely proud of in what she has done for our family, our two sons, their respective wives and children. She has not only been a mother, grandmother and wife to me but she is also a person who has earned our collective respect and admiration for trying to run a business and look after me at the same time.
We all have our ups and downs, some more so than others but it is the way that we handle a difficult situation that differentiates or sets us apart. Jan has had many decisions to make in our 28 years of married life, some of them hard but she has coped well. Like any family our children ( now married) have turned to Mum and Dad for help on the odd occasion and being the people we are we will ( and have ) bent over backwards to put their welfare ahead of our own and that is what being parents is all about.
And that is one of the reasons I am so proud of her. She is a mother first and foremost then a wife to me. I would like to think that we, Jan and I, will have many more years together but I have to be realistic and take what ever time we have and enjoy that time, with each other and with family and friends.
So, I take this moment to declare to the world that I LOVE and respect Jan for everything she has done for me and for others and that the future, though it looks black with MND hanging over us will not stop or diminish my love for her. I know that as time goes on she will have the support and love of our family and friends for when I am no longer here. That she will carry with her always the feelings, the hopes and the desires that we have for our respective sons and their families.
I have no animosity towards nature for giving me MND. I believe our paths are laid out for us at the moment of birth and this is my path and I will and have accepted it. Jan has and is learning to live with it but like many people she must have moments when the question 'why Robert' hunts her. All I can say is stay strong, carry my love with you and wear it like a cloak. Be proud but most off all show the world that you are who you are.
Thank you my love for sharing your life with me. I treasure the ground that you walk on. Thank you for giving me two sons and thank you for being the person who stole my heart......married 28 years on 17/02/2007.
I LOVE YOU.......