Our second honeymoon is a true gift to my groom
A COUPLE have held a second ‘wedding’ after the groom forgot about the first one because of dementia – and proposed marriage all over again.
Bill and Anne Duncan tied the knot 13 years ago and have been together nearly two decades, but the cruel illness has taken away his memories of large parts of the life they have shared.
He even forgot her name but then became convinced she was his new girlfriend. He kept on popping the question until she arranged for them to renew their wedding vows in front of friends.
Anne, 70, revealed the ‘honeymoon vibe’ continued for weeks after the emotional ceremony with Bill, 72, in the garden of their home in Aberdeen.
‘He absolutely hasn’t known my name for a long time. He used to call me darling but all that had gone over the last 12 months,’ she told the Real Fix podcast.
‘That’s why this was so unexpected and so amazing. I just said “OK, that would be lovely Bill”. And he said, “Well when can we do it?”
‘I said, “Well the girls are coming around Saturday. Do you want to do it then?” And he said yes.’
Anne said the vows ceremony (pictured) ‘was the most beautiful event ever’. She added: ‘We had what I call “the wedding effect” which lasted about six weeks. I’d
say “Bill, can you remember I’m your new wife?” and he would just hug me and pat me on my back and shower me with kisses. It was just a completely unexpected, wonderful miracle.’
The couple met in 2001 when Bill was performing as an entertainer and magician. Three years after their 2007 wedding, Anne began to notice he was becoming forgetful and acting differently. Doctors confirmed that he had dementia and she has since become his full-time carer. Recalling when he began proposing to her afresh, she said: ‘We’d been to a family wedding earlier in the month, and clearly it touched Bill as he turned to me and said that he wanted to be with me for ever.’