In September of 1970, I moved to Vancouver Island. I was in my senior year of high school. I started my own business that same year, painting signs. That fall, I also met this charming young lady. After a few dates (Janis was the first girl I ever dated), I knew she was the one. I asked her to marry me a few weeks later. But Janis, wisely, is not as quick with major decisions as I am. But I just knew and, being a patient guy, waited a couple more weeks before asking her again. This time, she said maybe. A few weeks later, I heard a ‘not yet’. As I recall, it took a few more tries before she finally said yes. We were young, very young, and we waited three years before we said our vows and started our life together in June of 1974.

What an exciting journey it has been! We've been partners in life and in business. After working outside the house for a year or so, Janis chose to be a stay-at-home mom. I've also worked at home most of those years, meaning we've spent a great deal of time together. We've built houses and businesses together, worked on the road when necessary, and travelled tens of thousands of miles with our two kids along for the ride.

We’ve worked together and played together all these years. We still hold hands, and like to be close to each other. We both believe in true and lasting love and the hard work to make it so.

Has it always been easy? Janis summed it up one day several years ago when she told me... "I'll ALWAYS love you, but right now I don't like you very much." Life is like that on occasion. But the good days (and there are so many) more than make up for those rare ‘other' days.

Today we celebrate our fifty-first wedding anniversary at the Hazelnut Inn. I look forward to many more happy years with Janis!