... 20 February, 1965 was the date on which I'd occasion to meet my first wife, Iris. Like most romantic encounters of that particular era, ours took place on the dance floor of a small hotel called 'York House' (which still exists in name - but has long since been transformed into a nightclub) in my adopted city of Perth.

Anyway, our eyes met, we danced together for the rest of the evening, I walked her home and asked her out to the cinema the following Wednesday evening - the first of many dates - got engaged mid-way between our respective birthdays [BOTH September] in 1966 and wed 15 months' later on December 15th 1967.

Iris and I's marriage lasted for 24 happy years - during which we raised two children, Fiona [now 45] and Alastair (Ally) [now 43] each of whom, I'm pleased to say, has happily turned out to be a credit to us - before Iris unfortunately succumbed to Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma, complicated by septicaemia, on December 18, 1991.

If this account bores readers, then I'm sorry ... ... but I couldn't simply allow this special anniversary to pass without mention.

Anyway, I've been extremely fortunate in my choice of marital partners ... and (as I never tire of telling anyone who'll listen!) in Myrna I have ANOTHER real gem.