The Wedding

It is hard to believe that I have been here 3 weeks already. It isn't flying by in fact it feels quite slow. This morning I woke up early and couldn't sleep thinking of all that I could be doing at home including working. I am so limited here by almost everything and I can't wait to make a date to come home and have light at the end of the tunnel.

Rafiki got out of the hospital 2 nights after his admittance when I arrived on the 10th. The good thing was he never got worse. His temperature fluctuated and he wasn't quite himself. We all felt a bit safer having him in the hospital under the watchful eyes of the hospital staff. He was already on antibiotics for another issue so we felt relatively safe about the situation. I imagine this will be a fairly common occurrence during the next 3 years. Always playing it safe and never doubting that a little thing could be a big thing.

I had a few days with the little guy and it was amazing to see how much he has grown into a toddler. He is really 2 now, complete with tantrums and the over use of No! and Mine! Although it is difficult I love it. I just love being able to be with him again and hearing him call me Momma. He has started pretending and imagining with his stuffed animals, he sings his own little made up songs, mimics what we say and tries to read. He has discovered his pockets which he loves putting coins into them. He calls money millwall, we have no idea why.

Rafiki has a lot of energy and is constantly trying to get his cousins to play and keep up with them when they are off on their own. The Lindsells (UK) have a big trampoline which he always wants to jump on and be a part of the big kid fun. There are a few neighborhood girls who are always over and love having Rafiki around. Rafiki has quite the harem now.

We were all getting use to each other when I had to leave again to go down to London to sort out a few things and get ready for my girlfriend Gill's wedding when I left Thursday the 15th. I felt a bit guilty about leaving Patrick on his own again and having time to myself when I only just arrived.

I took the train down to London, which really was a beautiful ride. The English country side at the moment is gorgeous; green and everything classic you would picture the country side to be. Unfortunately, the train I got on was an early one and cost me $80 for a 2 hour train ride, that stung a bit and was a bit of a shocker.

After arriving In London I spent most of the day on the phone with British Airways trying to change my ticket home and see if I could work on getting a refund for the 2 tickets we lost when Rafiki got sick in Zimbabwe. I didn't get very far with them as usual. I was hoping to be able to get a ticket for us all to fly back together but after Patrick's last few flights he doesn't want to fly back on British Airways, so it looks like we won't be flying back on the same flight anyway. Patrick feels confident he can do it on his own.

Friday, my good friend and photographer Bex met me to have a wreckee of the location for the wedding and plan out the shots. Gill and Charles put us up in a pub hotel which was fun and quite quaint. We had a nice pub dinner, a few pints and met some of Gill's relatives who are from "up North" near Manchester.

There is a bit of a war that goes on here between the English of the North and the those in the South.. mostly Londoners. I can't say what it really is about but I imagine it is something similar to the Northern California/ So Cal divide. They say the North has soul.. and that is where a lot of the music comes from. I have never spent any time up there but there accent sure is thick.

To be honest I was a bit neverosu about the wedding and glad to have Bex around. I love shooting friends weddings because I get to be a part of all the intimate details and I am able to spend more time with the bride and groom than the average guest but there is added pressure of making the best pictures possible as well since you will still have these friends in your life.. hopefully.

Saturday morning arrived and brought with it traditional grey and rainy skies. It was a disappointment to Gill and Charles and probably us as the photographers. For the guests I think it was just par of the course and they would have enjoyed the beauty of the wedding and the joining of their family no matter what.

The wedding was one of a life time. Gill and Charles were married in a beautiful 18th century gallery, after the ceremony, some champagne, appetizers and group photos, we took a short walk to the Thames to board a dinner boat. The three hour cruise down the river with a sit down dinner took us past the amazing scenery and landscape of London. It was amazing but the down pour of rain and gusty wind made it a bit challenging for the images we had hoped for. Despite the preconceived images we had in mind we still managed to make some incredible images and as usual over shot it just a tad... between the 2 of us we shot about 4000 images.

After the cruise we boarded a route master.. an old double decker bus. We traveled through the city past all the landmarks until we arrived at the The Crown a wonderful pub in Richmond. Where another 150 guests, a band and amazing food greeted us. It was hard to believe we had another few hours of partying and carrying on. I don't know how the bride and groom kept up their energy as we had all been up getting ready for the big event since early the early morning.

The wedding was stunning, with the bride wearing a lovely full length rich red dress with an elegant white beaded bodice. Her bridesmaids in gun metal satin and the groomsmen in full top and tails complimented the bride and groom with great elegance.


Gill and Charles are such an amazing friends. It was incredible to be a part of their union. They generously offered to loan Patrick and one of their cars. I originally declined but rethought about it and realized what an opportunity if would be for us to have a bit of independence.


Unfortunately, I couldn't get on their insurance without a UK driver's license but secretly that was OK with me. I spent 4 years here never wanted or attempting to learn to drive here which was fine for me. With my track record driving I wasn't thrilled about the possibility of me driving 3 hours away to get back to the boys.

Fortunately, for us great Zimbabwean friends of ours noticed my addition to Facebook and learned about Rafiki's illness. It has been so difficult to tell people especially the ones closest to us that there are still so many people we haven't told. I hate for people to find out through an impersonal way but it has helped us in our communication.

As most people have offered to help in anyway they can once they found out, Caz and Bren Sole reacted no differently. One thing have IO have learned through this situation is that we really can't make this journey without the help of others and to take advantage of people's offers of help should be something we are ashamed of. It is difficult to accept but as many of my friends have told me people want to help and it makes people feel good to think that they actually are.


I asked Bren if he wouldn't mind picking me up and helping me take the car back up to Stalbridge. It wasn't a small favor to ask as the drive back to the Lindsells ( UK) was a 2-3 hour drive and then Bren would have to take a train back down to London which would be another 2 hours. There wasn't a bit of hesitation as Bren agreed to met me Monday morning and drive the car for me. We are so thankful and blessed to have such amazing friends.