As Stuart and I celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary I went back and found the post I wrote for our 20th Anniversary and reflected on what’s changed in the past 5 years.  And the summary would be everything and nothing.
In 2019 we knew we were in the final mile of life as parents with kids at school and living at home, and now in 2024 we’re fully fledged empty nesters, albeit with a much loved but very demanding toy poodle.
After living in Brisbane for the entirety of our married life we’ve recently made the move to the Gold Coast, where we’re loving waking up at the beach every day, and George (the previously mentioned demanding toy poodle) is living his best life.
One of the biggest changes in our lives since 2019 has been the sale of our ‘business baby’ as we exited Icon in March 2022, but at a time that is all about celebrating life and love I’m definitely not going there in this post (if you’re not across how that went down you can read some of my thoughts here…)
We’ve started our Arc31 family office, and invested in a range of businesses, which has also delivered a whole range of new experiences and friendships outside of the purely healthcare focus that consumed much of our first 20 years together.
While those are probably the biggest headline changes for us personally over the past 5 years, it’s fair to say that it hasn’t been a dull window of time for the wider world.  Back in 2019 Covid was only a term you were familiar with if you worked in respiratory illness research, few Australian’s had any idea as to where the delineation of border responsibilities were drawn between our Federal and the State governments, or had any contemplation that the way we lived, worked, travelled and interacted with our fellow human beings was going to be turned on it’s head in a terrifying few weeks in early 2020 with immediate and far reaching consequences.  The subsequent couple of years made us all reevaluate what was truly important, and in particular the immense value of human connection and relationships and it will be a long time before we take the ability to travel and spend time together with friends and family for granted again.
On the flip side, when I say everything has changed but nothing has changed when I look back at that ‘Plenty in Twenty’ post from 5 years ago the themes have remained just as important over the past 5 years and I have every confidence that if I’m still writing when we reach our 50th Anniversary in 2049 they’ll hold just as true then.  There have been and will continue to be plenty of amazing experiences in Australia and around the world, there’ll undoubtedly continue to be plenty of challenges, and most of all there’ll always be plenty of love and laughter.  As we celebrate our love story this week with friends and family, both in person and virtually, the number one thing that will always be key is that we’re copiloting* this beautiful life and all it’s ups and downs together.
*In terms of things that have changed in the past 5 years, the introduction of generative AI is one that’s come hard and fast.  So every word until now (in this post and every other one I’ve ever written) has been written exclusively by me, but I was curious to see what Copilot would serve up as 25th Anniversary content.  Ironically, it headlined the content 25 years of Love and Laughter, so I’ve appropriated that given the lovely alignment with my 20th Anniversary post and  the rest of what it created in less than a couple of seconds is below.  Not too bad to be honest!
25th Anniversary Message to my copilot courtesy of Copilot
Today marks a quarter of a century since we embarked on life’s most beautiful journey together. 25 years have passed in the blink of an eye, yet every moment has been etched in our hearts forever.
From the first day we met to this very moment, our love has been the guiding star through life’s ups and downs. We’ve shared laughter, tears, dreams, and adventures, and each day has been a testament to the enduring power of love.
As we celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, we’re reminded of all the reasons we fell in love and the promises we made. We’ve built a life filled with joy, a family that’s our pride, and a love that grows deeper with each passing day.
Here’s to the memories we’ve made and to those yet to come. Here’s to us, to our love, and to a lifetime of togetherness. Happy 25th Anniversary, my love! 💖