Beautiful lives reconnect with vow renewal
By Sonia Isaacs
A HINTERLAND couple have stepped up to bring joy to a family deeply impacted by dementia.
Cliff and Janette Robbins have been married for 54 years, but dementia has caused Cliff to forget their union.
Despite this, he regularly asks for Janette’s hand in marriage, and when Maleny residents Peter and Michelle Maher heard from neighbour, Jared Ashcroft, about the couple’s circumstances, they wondered if a new wedding might be just the ticket for the couple.
So with the help of family, friends and staff at Opal Care Birtinya, where Jared works, Cliff and Janette renewed their vows last week in a beautiful celebration of their 54-year union.
Cliff’s wife, Janette explained that the couple were originally married in Cardiff Wales on April 4, 1970.
But she said with Cliff’s dementia diagnosis he would continually ask her to marry him.
“I dearly wanted to give him peace of mind, which I hoped by marrying him again 54 years later would help settle his confusion,” she explained.
As ministers at the Range Church in Montville, Peter and Michelle were more than happy to assist with the wedding and help bring comfort to Cliff and joy to the Robbins family.
Peter was able to officiate the ceremony which was also attended by Cliff and Janette’s children and grandchildren, along with residents and staff members of the care facility.
Michelle said both herself and Peter felt absolutely privileged to be part of Cliff and Janette’s wedding which she said was a beautifully poignant and heartwarming occasion.
In the vow’s that she read out on the day, Janette made reference to her original promise by saying that nothing had changed from the day 54 years ago when she had pledged to “love, honour and care for Cliff” no matter what.
She said the couple had remained staunchly side by side throughout their lives together. “He is the love of my life and I will continue to care for him as long as it takes,” she said.
Michelle said the ‘remarried couple’ were gifted chocolates from the Maleny Chocolate Factory, and while Cliff’s long term memory wasn’t doing so well, his short memory was doing better for the time being, so they were confident the occasion would be held dear to him for some time.
sonia@gcnews.com.au