A famous person once said, “To be rich in friends is to be poor in nothing”. Looking around at this gathering today, it is obvious that Derek and Robyn are millionaires.

Of course, it is a perfect day! It is 25 degrees, sunny and there is 0% chance of precipitation. This is not surprising for all of us here. Derek can be described in a similar way- the perfect 10, sunny all of the time and 0% chance of failure. I am getting to know Robyn better with each visit and the forecast with her is pretty much the same- lovely temperament, no cloudy periods and 0% chance of failure. What a golden couple and now with darling Jemma, what a golden family!

It was on a similar day 30 years ago when I received the best birthday present ever- my baby brother Derek was born! I had been asking for a puppy for years, but to no avail. Then along came Baby Derek… he was better than a puppy, any day!

I was the envy of all of my girlfriends. While they may have had the latest Barbie or cutest doll, I had the real thing. I had my own living doll to dress-up, feed, teach and even diaper change. My friends would drop-by just to help change his diaper. Derek was a legend in The Kingsway, from the start!

And so, this is how a lifetime of sisterly love and giving advice began. Robyn, Derek may need the occasional hand with his wardrobe, as he never had to choose his own outfits. Miriam and I were his personal fashion consultants from the start. One fond memory of Derek’s coming out in the fashion world was when we convinced him to wear my old Brownie uniform for Halloween. We thought he was adorable, if only he would have smiled!

Derek was the lucky one in our family. He never had to wear braces, get highlights at Carmelita’s and never even had a blemish! In fact, Derek has never had an ugly day in his life. At the Platform Computing Christmas party last year, upon hearing that I was the sister to the famous Derek, many of the women began kidding about how much time Derek must spend in front of the mirror each morning to achieve such movie star good looks. I laughed out loud as I explained to them how Derek had only just learned how to iron and how he did not own a hair brush until he met Robyn.

I am proud to say that it was me who introduced Derek to the pleasures of hot food. For a nickel, Derek was willing to sample anything from the refrigerator door, including horseradish, garlicky dill pickles or Dijon mustard. Today all of Derek’s favourite foods include a spicy zip, thanks to me!

Derek has become quite a chef in the past few years. His specialties include scrambled cheese with egg, chicken baked to perfection, and anything on the barbeque. Robyn, I am not sure if you are aware of another one of Derek’s culinary talents? As a teenager, Derek had a huge appetite. This of course was the envy of his older calories counting sisters. After school, Derek’s favourite snack was Kraft Dinner. After months of practice, Derek finally mastered eating an entire box of Kraft Dinner without ever chewing! Today, Derek is the biggest importer of Kraft Dinner in the U.K.

Derek loves to socialize and entertain. Once again, I can take credit for his early training. As the older sister, I was often left in charge at home. Derek was the official doorman, receptionist and disc jockey. All of my friends knew and loved my adorable baby brother. Most are in shock when I tell them that Derek is now a successful family man. “How can that be?” they ask. “He is only a kid!”

Another one of my duties as an older sister was to toughen Derek mentally. During Derek’s first year at Camp Hurontario I dutifully wrote him lots of letters and received none in return. I decided that I needed to get his attention. With that in mind, I wrote a detailed letter about a swarm of killer bees that had escaped from a beekeeper in Parry Sound and were last seen headed south towards Mactier. Within days I received a reply from a scared and possibly scarred Derek, begging me to tell him the truth. From what I understand, Derek continued this teasing legacy when he was a counselor at Hurontario, going as far as tossing chicken bones into the lake and claiming to his campers that they were human remains.

Robyn, I feel that Miriam and I provided the perfect training ground for Derek to be a good husband. When Derek was a teenager, he gained two more sisters and two more sources of advice. Growing up the only boy in the house was not a bad thing. At a young age, Derek was familiar with PMS, bras and girl talk. In fact, Derek spent his first night in a sorority house at age 13. What more could a sister provide?

My husband Paul has been a source of advice for Derek for over 15 years. Paul helped Derek take his first steps into the world of high tech and Derek has not looked back. Paul has been able to step in with advice at critical times such as when Derek, in his loud, laughing Derek voice told a crude joke to the receptionist at Speedware, not realizing that his joke could be heard throughout the entire office. Paul has been the family member to visit Derek and Robyn most often at their home in England. It was there that Paul had a chance to sample Derek’s world famous Chicken Tar Tar. Derek is not only my younger brother, but he is like a brother to Paul as well.

Now Baby Derek is a Dad. Being an uncle to Miriam’s children and mine has been the perfect warm-up act for fatherhood. Derek is famous in my house for arriving with the best gifts- anything from a bow and arrow set, an Anne of Green Gables wig, an obnoxious noisemaker or the biggest chocolate bar ever made. Derek has always known how to please his fans. Now he and Robyn are parents and Jemma is the luckiest girl on Earth. Not only will she be a world traveler, but also I am sure Daddy Derek will shower his little princess with whatever her heart desires. Most of all, Robyn and Derek will shower Jemma with love, happiness and their love of life.

I would like to take this opportunity to officially welcome Robyn into our family. Robyn, your kind and gentle spirit are the perfect compliment to my gregarious, hilarious brother Derek. The two of you are a perfect match! Thank you for including all of us in your celebration. Please raise your glass in a toast to Derek, Robyn and Jemma.