Dear Friends,

This weekend was a very, very special one for Céline and I (hereafter referred to as "we!!") On Easter Sunday (exactly one year from our ‘first date!’) we climbed up to the top of La Dune du Pyla (the highest dune in Europe) where I asked Céline to marry me…

….and she said yes!   As importantly, her Dad had said yes earlier that morning following my 7am vigil awaiting his awakening, and my pouncing! 

Most of you reading this BLOG will know Céline already, but for those who don’t… well YOU just wait!!  It’s after much prayer and thought that I made the decision to ask Céline, but it was after only a few moments of knowing her that I knew she was the one!   So many of you have encouraged me in the same vein and all in, it was more a case of waiting for the right time than anything else.  It’s all very exciting.

We’ve been enjoying a very festive weekend here in the South-West of France near Bordeaux.  The Dune is part of a town called Arcachon where Céline’s family summer home is.  It’s a very lovely (and romantic!) place to celebrate.  The sun has been beating down here making way for short sleeves, suntans, boat trips and bike rides.  Many of Céline’s family and friends are here for the Easter holiday and between that and our phones and emails and texts to family and friends around the world… well, we’ve just been soaking it all up and thanking God for every moment.  

It’s now over to all the great parts of our engagement time where we’ll dream of 7 kids and a guitar like Captain von Trapp (kidding!) and of practical things as well.   We don’t want to overtake that time with ‘wedding planning’ but invariably the ideas have already started coming.   We’ll keep everyone posted.

For now it’s back to more celebration with Céline’s family here in Bordeaux, then back to London this aft and seeing and speaking to all of you!  

With much love,
Graham (& Céline!)





A few Postscripts for those who’d like them…

Céline

Céline was born in Paris and has lived with her family (Mum Agnès, Dad Hervé, Sisters Noémie and Colombine and Brother Benjamin) in Toronto, New York and Brussels.  One of the things I love the most about Céline is her amazing creativity, which has taken her to study in London at Central St Martin’s (the top art college in Britain) and then on to start her career as a fabric designer and weaver.  She’s spent the last 6 months up in the North of Scotland working (ironically!) in my cousins’ cashmere mill, Johnstons of Elgin.  Céline came back to London a short while ago to start her next job with WGSN, the world’s largest fashion trend prediction company, where she’s now studying ‘Trendy Vicar 2008’, the latest craze… ;-)  Céline and I met at Holy Trinity Brompton amongst some mutual friends, which has been such a wonderful and huge part of our first year knowing each other.  And more than all of that, she’s gentle, brilliant, lovely, has the memory of an elephant and... is very beautiful too! 

Graham

Well if you're reading this, you already know me!   But you may want to browse around this BLOG for some recent news about Ordination, starting at Cambridge, moving to Kentish Town and all of that! 

Last Week

Last week was very special also, when I had my Dad in town!   We had a great time just the two of us and with Céline very often too.   It was particularly wonderful to be able to visit some of my Dad’s old haunts in Britain and to talk (and get some advice!) about marriage and all of that.. The highlight of our week was the final trip out for ring shopping, where the voice of experience was most helpful indeed!  

The Bishop

One of the amusing parts of our engagement is that as a Church of England ordinand, I’ve been selected for training as a single dude (actually they don’t use the word dude in the Church of England, but get my drift?).   When you want to… ahem… change your marital status, you need permission of the Bishop beforehand.   So one of the fun parts of this time has been writing to Bishop Michael to tell him about Céline and my intentions, and to ask for his approval.  His return letter was very speedy and encouraging, which made for a bit more fun for us all. 

Click here for more photos...