I'm afraid it would be pointless providing a reference number from someone else as the ECO will refuse to discuss other people's cases for two reasons. 1, being that each case is determined on its own merits, and 2, the Data Protection Act would prevent them acknowledging details of other peoples cases.
The best you can do is provide as much reason/evidence as possible to explain the prolonged time between seeing each other.
Good luck with the application![]()