And so the story goes…This young man originally from Ipoh “mari”, had come back from England to his family now staying at Lorong Hicks; next door to some of the Lorong Hicks Road kids. It seems that he’d be in his army uniform whenever he was back from the army. And this is how this young army officer (Pic. 2), attracted attention. Whether he had attracted the young girl (Pic. 1) first, who also used to come home everyday in uniform – school uniform, that is; or she attracted him; the jury is out on that one.

“Oh, you sing? I can sing, too”, said he, the army officer named Eustace; to the talented singing schoolgirl, Philomena. That’s how he won the hearts of the musically talented Gomes family. “Figaro, Figaro, Figaro” sang Eustace…. ..no ..not really. I’m not sure what song he sang first to gain the attention of the Gomes family.

Serious stuff took place not long after….they were engaged on April 1st, 1956. Seriously.

Then, more serious stuff took place. They got married on June 16th, 1956. There’s a proof copy (above) to prove it.

Jennifer, the first of five children; came on July 6th, 1957; after over a year of them getting married. Then, yours truly (me) on July 10th, 1958; Nigel (April 24th, 1960); Terence (November 27th, 1961) and Malcolm (October 2nd, 1966).

We move several chapters (years) of this story to 1981, their 25th Wedding Anniversary.

Well, that’s what mum used to call it. “When are you going to shave that brush off?” was a pretty common question. And when I did, “I see the light!”

And then, moved forward by more chapters….to their 60th Wedding anniversary.

In the photo above, we have the whole family in it, including Jennifer and Nigel who are no longer with us; but sure are changing the scene in heaven almost on a daily basis. God keeps saying, “Oh My Gosh (he can’t use the letter “d” here, because he is that with a “d”), I can’t recognise this place heaven; anymore. Where are all the harps? And the white clouds…what happened to them?” asked God; with “Achy Breaky Heart” blaring over the speakers and a bunch of angels doing line dancing.

Fast forward to June 16th, 2022. Mum and dad have added another chapter and milestone in their lives – 66th Wedding Anniversary. Now, both of them are training to race each other in their wheelchairs. Mum has just acquired the Ferrari red sports model. Don’t let this fool you. Dad still walks quite a bit, with or without his walking stick, and gets in his car and drives to the shops for little grocery errands. Mum is still making the world’s best buttercake with her trademark icing, too.

Something to celebrate their 66th Wedding Anniversary: “Route 66” by Nat King Cole and another version sung by his daughter, Natalie.

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As I wrote this article, I often got up from my workstation (that is almost anywhere)…as I often got away from the computer or my Fold 3 or my S7; I would do something different, even for a few minutes. I do this when I write all my articles; just to pause and refresh my thought process. In this article, I did one of the two (the two pictures below): play our (Jeannie’s and my) folderable piano with renditions of “Devil’s March”(no idea why the tune was named that), “Boogie Woogie” in slow tempo…very slow tempo; and “Auld Lang Syne”. I learnt to play Auld Lang Syne on my little musical note Casio calculator in the early 1980s. I was sold on the calculator with the idea that it could play musical notes, and record your played music to boot. How cool is that?

Or (remember, I said I did one of the two), I ate those durian cream filled cookies. Yummy. With all the talk of inflation going around; my 6 pack has become 12. Which do you think I did?

NOTES

U.S. Route 66

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Length 2448 miles ( 3940km)

Existed: Nov 26 1926 to June 26 1985

Tourist Routes: Historic Route 66

U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. US 66 was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year.^[4] The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in the United States, originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before terminating in Santa Monica in Los Angeles County, California, covering a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km).^[5] It was recognized in popular culture by both the 1946 hit song “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” and the Route 66 television series, which aired on CBS from 1960 to 1964. In John Steinbeck‘s novel, The Grapes of Wrath (1939), the road “Highway 66” symbolized escape and loss. Other designations and nicknames for the highway include the Will Rogers Highway, the Main Street of America and the Mother Road.

US 66 served as a primary route for those who migrated west, especially during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and the road supported the economies of the communities through which it passed. People doing business along the route became prosperous due to the growing popularity of the highway, and those same people later fought to keep the highway alive in the face of the growing threat of being bypassed by the new Interstate Highway System.

US 66 underwent many improvements and realignments over its lifetime, but was officially removed from the United States Highway System in 1985 after it had been replaced in its entirety by segments of the Interstate Highway System. Portions of the road that passed through Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, and Arizona have been communally designated a National Scenic Byway by the name “Historic Route 66“, returning the name to some maps. Several states have adopted significant bypassed sections of the former US 66 into their state road networks as State Route 66. The corridor is also being redeveloped into U.S. Bicycle Route 66, a part of the United States Bicycle Route System that was developed in the 2010s.

minons FIGARO FIGARO FIGARO (Dragon Daily)