I first met Dickie at the Sharjah sub aqua club, just a few months after my arrival in the UAE where I was teaching at the same school as Jean. In this glorified hut incredibly situated alongside the old Sharjah airport, my new fella Ross came back from the bar saying he'd met a chap who came from my home town of Weston Super Mare. Feeling a tad homesick but fortified by a few singapore slings, I rushed over to have a chat about the 'centre of the universe' as Ross scathingly referred to WSM. It only took a few moments before Richard realised that my father was the vet who had treated his animals. From then on he wove this amazing story to tell everyone about 'Old Basil' being 'The Phantom Castrator '. This was embelished with great oratory about how all the male dogs and cats would flee in all directions as they saw my father approaching. Shortly after this Richard went on to woo and thankfully lure Jean away from a Lebanese colleague at school who had a notice outside his hut which read 'I am happy because I dance". You can imagine the acerberic witty comments from Richard that Weanie had to endure for a long while! Ross and I were married the following August and to my amazement Weanie and Dickie , as they were affectionately known, arrived at our wedding as a married couple with Jean almost having confetti in her hair from their wedding! Last year Richard and Jean celebrated their 32nd wedding anniversary too. Many of the young people of today could learn from them how marriage is a promise to be together through the good times and bad, in sickness and in health. To end on a happy note, I particularly remember Dickie and his love of crosswords. He prided himself on the speed that he was able to complete the Khaleej Times one and would often enter the Friday competition. One week he proudly explained that although they had printed the wrong clues, he had still managed to complete it!