How did you meet?

A friend of both our families “arranged” for us to meet way back when we were teenagers. It worked!

How many countries have you visited or lived in?

It depends how you count!

“Lived in” is easier. England, Ireland, Holland, The United States of America, and briefly Scotland.

Visited? Most of them! But it’s hard to count since some that were once considered nations are no longer and others that weren’t are.

What do you do for a living?

Ian currently flies for a major airline and when on the ground works as a crew instructor while Hilary looks after home and family.

How have you stayed married so long?

Choice!

…OK so we can’t just say that and move on can we? Maybe a blog post or two will answer that one day. …but love IS a choice isn’t it? Seriously. So, yes, we are married because we choose to be married and choose to love each other. Quaint? Oh probably, but what do you expect in a short paragraph of an answer?

What did you do before?

We get asked this ALL THE TIME!

Probably because we’ve done so much and a lot of our friends hear about other parts of our lives and want to know about the “other bits”!

We both worked for a non profit organization for many years working around the world, Hilary in administration roles and Ian in media and communication as well as technical roles. We lived for years onboard ships and traveled the globe. Way too many things to list here, but a lot!

“Did we really do THAT?” is something we ask ourselves often too!

Some answers shorter than the question…

Yes, Hilary speaks Irish. (It’s called Irish but we Brits call it Gaelic for some reason.)

Ian speaks enough Spanish to get himself into trouble and make a few announcements on aircraft.

Yes, our house in England was flooded when a river burst its banks.

Yes, we lived on a ship that sank, (…but that was a long time ago now.)

Yes, Hilary worked for the Irish Government, and yes, Ian worked in TV and was a Radio Officer at sea.

Yes, we adopted our sons and one of them has special needs.

A “zoomie” is what Sarky does at random where for no apparent reason he takes off running around the house bouncing off whatever is in his path. It’s a thing.

Faith?

Yes. We are both followers of Jesus.

Having tried it both ways, life seems a lot less complicated with faith than without.