We came to Cambridge in 1996-97 because John had won a fellowship to study at the university through the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship program. As the website says, it is one of the world's largest privately funded international scholarships programs, and since 1947, it has sent 40,000 men and women from 100 different countries to universities around the world.
We were lucky enough to land in Cambridge, and Graeme was the mentor from the local Rotary club who welcomed us and helped in various ways throughout the year. We had many great teas and dinners with Graeme and Mary (and often, their friend and a fellow Rotarian named Roger), as well as lunches at Rotary meetings where John would speak. We even had them to eat in our tiny married-student-housing flat, and had to borrow a few plates and wine glasses from our neighbors as we only had two of everything (it's nice to be at a point in life where you have more than two plates and wine glasses, just as an aside).
We have stayed in touch over the years and so when we decided to come to the greater Cambridge area, we let Graeme and Mary know right away. And we had a great dinner last night -- so much talking and laughing and fun, in fact, that I only took a couple of photos. We hope to get some more this weekend when we head to their house for the day. We'll get to see Roger again (he is apparently well into his 90s!) as well as their son, Robert, and his two children. We can't wait.
(I know that's not the best shot of Olivia, but Graeme has such a lovely smile here, I had to post it anyway. The two of them haven't aged a bit in the last decade!)
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