Laughter and love are key

Now, the Wrights have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary by renewing their vows at St Andrew’s Cathedral in Singapore.

As children in the UK, Wendy and John spent many weeks together after John’s father died at war, leaving his mother to bring up her young family.

John’s mother would take her three children to visit Wendy’s mother because they lived near the beach.

When Wendy was 13, her her family moved to Singapore, but after three years, a family illness saw Wendy and her mother return to the UK.

Wendy’s father did not return for another six months, and so Wendy and her mother visited John’s mother.

John, now a police officer, came across Wendy and her mother at a bus stop and from then on their friendship developed into love.

Wendy became engaged at 18 and married a year later on June 15.

The couple moved to a police house in Ashtead, Surrey and had two children.

Later in life, John and Wendy would regularly travel to Australia, which became more often when their son moved to Perth in 1996.

They talked of immigrating but did not want to leave their two grandchildren, but a job offer saw their daughter and her family also move to Perth in 2007.

John and Wendy arrived in Western Australia last August with only two suitcases and after about three months, they moved into their new home in Ashby.

Wendy and John said the key to a long and successful union was laughter and love.Tyler Brown