By the time the orders came, I was in a very serious relationship with Rachel and we decided that we would marry before my departure and then transfer together to California. The process of making this happen took a few months because I was in the Navy and since Rachel was British, the normal investigation timeframe took a little longer. Anyway all was in order and we set our "official" wedding date at the local registrars office in Ealing for the 12th of November and also planned for our white wedding on the 14th of January, 1989. I was scheduled to depart London on the 29th of January so I needed the time to process the necessary paperwork for Rachel to accompany me to California as my "military dependent" and two weeks before my departure would've been a bridge too far for her to come with me without paying substantial out of pocket costs.
On the 12th of November we went to the registrars office and were required to have two witnesses so we had Rachel's mother and her next oldest sister, Sarah go with us. It was a very surreal experience because I really couldn't comprehend the fact that I was getting married! To this day, my only memories of the day was listening to "Crazy" by Icehouse while I'm ironing my clothes before we went to the registrars and standing next to Rachel as we recited our vows to each other. The rest of it, a complete blur. By this time, my new father-in-law, Rachel's stepfather had been assigned to the USS Los Alamos in Holy Loch Scotland so for the Christmas and New Year's holiday we went up there to visit them in Dunoon where they lived. Dunoon is a small town that sits on the Firth of Clyde across from Greenock about 35 miles from Glasgow.
Rachel with our Son Matthew and Daughter Olivia in front of her parents house in Dunoon that they lived in from 1988-1990 - Photo taken in 2012 during a mobile home vacation to Scotland
With Rachel's sister Sarah in tow the three of us boarded a train at King's Cross in London and went up to to Glasgow where my father-in-law picked us up for the drive and ferry over to Dunoon. It was the 23rd of December, two days after Pan Am Flight 103 exploding in the air over Lockerbie so driving up was not a good option because the A74, the main thoroughfare between Glasgow and England at the time was closed for forensics until after Christmas. When we arrived, one of Rachel's other sisters, Annette and her husband had arrived a few days earlier. They drove up and actually went through Lockerbie the morning of the disaster!
When we arrived at the house, my in-laws had decorated the house, it started to snow and we were all feeling very festive! I remember us spending the next day, Christmas Eve hanging around the house, drinking wine and beer and enjoying each other's company. We did actually go into Dunoon and take in the Christmas Market that they had. It was really a magical time!
Christmas Day in Scotland was spent with family. This was the second year with my new family and first time since getting married so it felt like I was home! During Christmas my sister-in-law and her husband told my in-laws that they were expecting. We were elated for them but we also had a secret to share. We had just received the news before we came up to Scotland and were waiting for the right time to tell them. We had no clue that Annette was expecting so I'm sure this came as quite a shock to hear that two of their daughters were expecting around the same time!
In between the holidays we got out and explored the immediate area around Dunoon but at that time of the year, the winds coming off the Firth were bitter so we didn't stray too far. One day we did catch the ferry over to Greenock and then the train into Glasgow to look around.
For New Year's we hosted "hogmanay" at my in-laws house. What the Scottish did was they would stay in their houses until the New Year rang in and then they would bring drink with them and go around to neighbors houses to celebrate. It was a very cool way to bring in the New Year holiday and I won't forget the hospitality of the Scottish as they welcomed in 1989.
Unfortunately we had to get back to London on the 2nd and we rode back with Annette for the long drive back down to Southern England. We left early in the morning before the ferry's started to run and as a result we had to go around the Firth of Clyde on the northern side, a detour of nearly 50 miles. However, since it was still the holiday season, the roads were clear and we had no trouble with traffic and were back on the A74 before we knew it. The A74 was a dual carriageway (divided highway) but the Lockerbie disaster caused the highway to be closed in one direction so when we went through the town it was a very surreal scene. Houses were destroyed, you could see the large crater where the middle section of the 747 of Pan Am 103 crashed into the houses and it looked like a war zone. It was very shocking to see the results of this cowardly terrorist attack!
We arrived home in the early evening and were looking forward to what January had in store for us. We had the "formal" wedding to plan and also had our departure from London to California to plan and look forward to.
