A letter to my BEAUTIFUL WIFE

Alan Vance, 54, from County Antrim, has some touching words for his one true love…

- HARRIET ROSE-GALE

Dear Amanda,

It took just a couple of dates in 2008 to know that you were The One for me.

We just clicked.

Quickly, we became one big, happy family.

Your daughter Sian, then four, and my three sons, Taylor, 13, Mcauley, 12 and Jakson, four.

I counted my lucky stars that I’d found someone that was so beautiful and kind.

I wanted to put a ring on your finger right away.

Only, money was tight, our kids were young.

It was in May 2015 that I finally popped the question.

‘Of course!’you beamed.

We set a date for the wedding in November 2018.

But that April, you booked a doctor’s appointment after you were struggling to catch your breath.

‘Doc said it’s pleurisy,’ you told me.

You had inflamed tissue around your lungs.

You were given painkillers but while on holiday in Portugal, things got worse.

You were barely able to make it to the sunlounger before getting out of breath.

Back home, a scan showed two shadows on your lungs.