Peter & Yvonne

End of Jan 2019 - It started with a Wave (from Yvonne) and Peter responded by saying Hello. We communicated via Christian Connection chat until we met up in February at a local park (we live in the same area!). We hit it off straight away, sharing much in common, faith in God, love of travel, dogs etc. Peter is hearing impaired but his impeccable lip reading skills meant we had no trouble communicating. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and we sat for 2 hrs getting to know each other. We added each other to Facebook that evening. We had a pause between the initial meeting and our subsequent date (I was on a cruise and Peter had overseas guests), but we had another date at our local Vietnamese restaurant and more to follow! We felt so comfortable around each other and looked forward to our dates and learning more about each other.

In Jan 2020 Peter 'popped the question' on a beautiful evening in Carlton Gardens, a very romantic setting. Of course I said "yes! I will marry you", both verbally and in Auslan which I'm learning very slowly! We then went to visit family to tell them the news - first my parents, then Peter's mum who was in hospital at the time, but it sure cheered her up with our news! We set the date for September 2020, and in fact had our reception venue booked prior to the proposal (we both knew we wanted to get married and made our plans so we could announce our engagement and wedding date at the same time!) Then Covid-19 happened.

In March Yvonne was away on another cruise and upon return had to isolate for 2 weeks. That was extremely difficult having been apart for 2 weeks during the cruise, then a further 2 weeks of separation (except for drive by visits and talking from a distance!). Peter too, had travel planned for May/June to Europe which he had to cancel due to Covid-19. Just a few days after Yvonne's isolation period finished, Peter found his mother had suddenly passed away at home in April. We miss and grieve her dearly and are heartbroken she won't be at our wedding (on earth at least but we know she'll be there in spirit). She was so happy for us and was very much looking forward to our wedding.

As the year progressed, our 100 guest wedding was looking more and more uncertain, we were then preparing ourselves for a 20 person, 10 or even 5 person ceremony on in September and have postponed the reception til March 2021. As we live in a Melbourne Metro suburb - we are now in Stage 4 restrictions, which now means weddings are banned til at least mid Sept at least. We are very disappointed we can't get married on our planned wedding day, we are praying so much that we can get married as soon as stage 4 restrictions are lifted. We know God brought us together (through Christian Connection) and we are thankful. Funnily enough, Peter was almost going to cancel his subscription just a few months before Yvonne sent that wave, but continued with the subscription - good thing he didn't cancel, love was just around the corner!