Leaving the Hegarty's

Monday was an easy day with a late breakfast, packing up our gear and saying goodbye to the Hegarty’s as we headed down to Ballinasloe and the Stankard’s. Ballinasloe is just outside Galway City and we’re camped at Anita’s, Enda’s sister’s place. Last night was out to dinner and an early night and this morning Gene and I went off for a slow run around Galway Bay with Enda.  The sunrise was beautiful as was the run.  I took it easy, choosing to walk half the way, rather than test the knee and ignore the doctor’s orders. Then it was off to Ballinsloe to meet Father Martin Costello, the wedding celebrant. He joined us for a cuppa after the guys had their meeting with him.  He’s a lovely bloke, well traveled and interested in lots of things. While in Ballinasloe we bumped into Dee Dee a great mate of Angela’s, whom we'd met earlier this year in Bondi. She saw us sitting in the car just as we got back from walking around the village and surprised me by walking up and saying, "Excuse me. Can anyone tell me how to get to the Opera House?"  Not a line you’re expecting to hear in Ballinasloe. It was good to see her again and we went across the road to Flannery’s for a coffee.  We were soon joined by Ange and Enda and we took off for Lisloughrey Lodge in Cong where the wedding reception is on this weekend to have lunch, while Ange and Enda looked after some last minute details.

It’s now Tuesday 28^th December 2010, a good a time as any to tell you about the my mates Angela and Enda, the couple getting married. First to the groom, Enda Stankard.  Enda is 32 years old and a tall, fit, good looking bloke.  He’s a financial analyst, forecaster & modeller with ING in Sydney, Australia.  He’s the eldest & only son in the Stankard family with three sisters & grew up in the bush in Ireland in County Mayo in a little community called Ballinroe. The family business, Stankard Stone, is located just down the road. Enda met Angela at College close to 14 years ago and they’ve been together ever since. Enda is a gem of a bloke. He’s greatest quality is his generosity, which I love. He would literally give you the shirt off his back and regularly goes out of his way to help his mates back in Sydney. Close behind that is his enthusiasm, which is contagious and translates into Enda being one of life’s great connectors of people. He’s enthusiastic about everything in life from sport, to work, to ideas, to politics, history, the environment and travel to name a few. And most of all he's enthusiastic about Angela, which is easy to understand. He's also organized down the the last detail, loves organising for others and makes sense of chaos on an excel spreadsheet like no other. He closed the door on spending a long, long time ago, yet somehow manages to quietly add the latest piece of gear to his vast collection of sports apparel without anyone noticing. His purchases do pay off and his latest addition, a special balance bracelet, has meant he'll crack the 2hr 30min marathon in 2011 without much effort at all. Enda's special contribution is that he brings people together; a much needed quality in our lives today. It's hard not to fall in love with the guy and he is a constant joy to be around.

NOTE: it's now Sunday 2nd January 2011, the day after the wedding. It was a late night, or early morning.  I'm taking a break to have some breakfast and will start the next installment with the bride, Angela later today.