Readers of this blog may well remember the lovely story of Jean and Vince, regular visitors to the Hartland Peninsula…..
Well, after receiving by email some beautiful photos, with tales of the sunset engagement of Jean and Vince Ellis at Hartland Quay, Jean has kindly now filled me in on the full story and it is a stunner, poignant, and with a fabulously happy ending because Jean and Vince are now married!
Eight years ago, single lady, Jean, now 46, was diagnosed with breast cancer, a cruel disease which knows no boundaries. Most of us will know someone who has fought breast cancer.
As with all sufferers, Jean went through all the emotional stages involved in finding out this news but, with the help and support of family and friends, underwent full-on cancer treatment, which included a mastectomy, chemotherapy, preventive removal of her ovaries and ultimately a full hysterectomy, meaning she could not have children of her own. She was given the all-clear in 2003 but wasn’t able to work as frantically she had previously, so went into charity work and did some courses. Counselling was – understandably – one, but photography was another.
It was at the photographic course that she met Vince in 2009. Described as a "slow-burning friendship," the couple collaborated on projects, as romance developed. Jean decided to tell Vince her whole medical history, so he had a full picture and, as she put it "could run before we’d got started".
Vince didn’t run – apart from with Jean – to a photographic holiday in Devon, where he proposed at Hartland Quay. Jean obviously accepted as the lovely couple got married this year.
What a fabulous story about a wonderful couple who met, despite the odds, and whose love was sealed at Hartland Quay. Cancer changed Jean’s life in so many ways, of course it did, but in taking up that post-recovery photography course, she has hopefully met her soul mate in Vince and we wish them both all the very, very best for the future. I don’t know how others will feel reading this but I felt privileged to receive the Jean’s email, and previously, the photos from Vince, which have made the Hartland Peninsula such a special location for them both………I’ll never look at Hartland Quay in quite the same way now. I’ve long loved it there but this story just makes it even better!