The Age Old Question
- gprentice8
- Oct 2, 2017
- 2 min read
Many people presume we met through my Dad (he too was/ is in the army), and in a weird way we did. But not as you might think. As my Dad noted in his wedding speech, ‘the firemans strike of 1977 has a lot to answer for”. Cutting a long courting story short, both of our Dad’s worked together and met two eligible ladies whilst covering the strike. Six children, a couple of christenings and a few joint family holidays away together - here we are.
(This is him helping me when i was around 4 or 5, and his older brother)
It wasn’t love at first sight that’s for sure. He’s a little older than I am, so we were never close. He saw me as a bratty, spoilt little princess. I saw him as a scary, too-cool-for-school meathead. Whist our families spent a lot time together when we were growing up, we never really got on. “After a much needed, couple of years break” (my husband’s charming speech from the wedding), I kind of dropped back into his life, sending him letters whilst he was away in Afghanistan. I knew a couple of people who had gone on tour with him and was well-schooled in the art of BFPO post and the importance of receiving something whilst away on ops.
(This was one of the first letters i wrote to him whilst he was away)
Apparently, I made him laugh – which for those who know me – doesn’t always come naturally, but it was the start of a great friendship. Nothing more nothing less. He came home on R&R for his brothers wedding and we sat and chatted – which isn't something we had ever done before. Safe to say my bratty alter ego was falling and he was less meatheaded than I had originally thought. (Plus he had lost some weight, was older and had a cracking tan) We decided to meet up when he got home. He needed a place to stay one night after coming to Nottingham on a night out with friends. I decided to go with them to show them the best haunts and he got somewhat protective over me.
Over the course of a few months, he came to visit a handful of times (AS FRIENDS). Then one rather awkward night whilst watching a film, he told me “he liked me”.
I have been super honest from day one that, to say this was a surprise, is an understatement. I walked to work the next morning with my best friend somewhat confused…. We talked it through, and determined that I did find him attractive but hadn’t really thought of him in that way. She convinced me to go on an actual date with him and see what happened.
So we did.
It actually came much more naturally than we thought. We decided to keep things quiet for a while and see how it went – without the pressure of our families bearing down on us. 6 months later ‘we came out’ and everyone said they already knew. I beg to differ!
Loves young dream we were not. But at least we like each other now!
GL
- x -