And old friend came to visit last night bearing a bottle of wine and a good collection of cheese and crackers. There’s nothing quite like catching up with a familiar and beloved person. The conversation just begins where it left off, some months ago. Reminisces happen, discussions of now and the future take place. In between silly things are said and laughter invades like a surprising summer rain shower.

We talked about her daughter’s wedding and how I was tasked with building a wedding arch in the middle of nowhere (a remote botanical garden on the coast). As I had no car, my daughter and I were left at the garden with boxes of fabric and some pins, faced with a frame of sorts. We spent far too long creating our masterpiece, so there was no time to head back to where we were staying to change. We ended up acting like superheroes, doing a quick-change act in the public bathrooms, putting on makeup in front of foreign tourists in hiking gear.

That was four years ago.

A few months ago I embarked on a mad-dash journey from the city of gold to the mother city for another wedding. Interestingly, my task on the big day was to construct a wedding arch. Although not furnished with reams of fabric, I was armed with a bread knife and the key to the communal garden down by the rocks, where the sea crashed and sprayed with drama.

So, how do you construct a wedding arch?

In the same way as you approach life, I guess.

With love, imagination, the ability to use what’s available to you at that moment, confidence to use your own creative licence and interpret the now in a way that fits the need. With determination and with an end in mind; with eagerness and a desire to do the very best you can.