Patrick Mayer understood even before the new teacher arrived that she would change the course of his life. This was not because he had seen a picture of Gillian Simons, arriving from the States to be an intern for the Kainon School in Durban, South Africa in 1967. He calls it an angelic communication, and coerced his mother to let her stay with their family for the first three months. Patrick was an avid rugby player, and after the games the team would head to a local pub to celebrate. But two weeks before she arrived he announced that this was his last time to lift a glass with his friends. Life was about to change. 

 

The whole society arrived at the airport to welcome Gillian, and watched as she descended the steps onto the tarmac. She wore a cowboy hat, and carried a guitar as she walked into the unknown. Sonia Doering was a seamstress who had made her a special suit for the occasion of traveling half way around the world. Patrick was timid, and as he stood among the crowd he could not take his eyes off of this wonderful girl. His heart was spinning with love, but Gill's was headed in another direction. He often offered to show her the countryside, taking her on his motor scooter. Purposely taking sharp corners was a handy way to get her to hold on tight. 

 

Gill extended her stay to eighteen months, but finally in late 1969 she headed back to America. Patrick had to figure out a way to follow. After graduating from a local university, he landed a job with the prestigious Barclay's bank, though he had no idea why they offered it to him. Patrick and Gillian communicated with reel to reel cassettes, as phone calls were far too expensive. He asked his boss if he could take a leave of absence to visit the states, but instead he was fired. Patrick got cold feet about abandoning his family and job for a woman who had held her cards so close to her chest, and wrote a letter saying he had changed his mind. 

 

Her response was the first time she expressed affection for him. 

 

An older friend blasted Patrick for not chasing her. 

 

"You are insane!" Which spurred him to spring for an actual phone call to say he was coming after all. 

 

Somehow he got special status as a student at Bryn Athyn College in Pennsylvania. He arrived on June 21st, a day after Gillian's brother Chris married Gail Morey, and stayed with her family for a few months. Summer work consisted of painting on campus, But Gill was still keeping him firmly in the friend category. One night they were invited to a cookout across town. Walking home Patrick gave himself a pep talk, that he had to try to hold her hand. She didn't rebuke him. 

 

Gillian took a job in Washington D.C. as a teacher, and Patrick used his little cash to call her... think feeding the dorm pay phone with a stack of coins.... and even visit her by train. 

 

Later that fall they planned to go to Boston to visit Chris and Gail. Patrick knew this was his chance to propose. But Gill's brother offered to come too. Patrick was angry. Gill was relieved. 

 

Awhile later they planned to visit his sister Alix and her husband Larkin in Richmond, Virginia. His main quandary was whether to pop the question at the beginning or the end of the weekend. He waited until an hour before the train left to take him back to Pennsylvania. 

 

"I know that consent is the essential of marriage, and that your freedom is very important. Don't answer for four weeks."

 

She lasted a week. 

 

They were betrothed in the spring, and married in August. Finding housing was tough, as her salary was slim and he hadn't found a job there. He suggested a trailer but she frowned at the idea. Patrick landed employment, as well as attending Benjamin Franklin School of Accounting. He signed on as janitor of the church school, and Gillian chose to share that one with him. It would be a chance to be together and also halve the time spent. 

 

"First I was walking down the aisle. Then I was vacuuming it."

 

They were lean years, and Patrick felt lonely as he strode past the White House, bustling with people he did not know. Then to his shock he noticed as an old teacher from South Africa crossed the busy road. Patrick warmly embraced him, inviting him to stay with them. 

 

A year later they decided it was time to return to South Africa, and bought tickets on the maiden voyage of a freighter. It turned out that the only other passenger was a widower, and the entire crew was Greek. Gillian was nauseous from pregnancy, and he was queasy with the waves, so it was a long three weeks with nothing but waves to look at. It didn't help that the menu of fish with head intact, and one eye looking up at you was monotonous. 

 

Half way across the Atlantic the engines abruptly quit. The captain reassured them, but still insisted on an evacuation drill into lifeboats. When they reached the Cape of Good Hope he looked at the rocks and again wondered if this was a grievous mistake. 

 

But they stayed for two children, and four years before returning once again to America. There a church connection landed them in Ohio and a career that lasted for many decades. 

 

These days Gillian and Patrick enjoy sharing a home with their daughter's family.  This summer they will celebrate fifty years together, and know that the Lord has guided them all along.