Sixteen years ago today..

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Sixteen years ago today, I was going on a blind date. Well, actually, more of a short-sighted date really..

Roll back a couple of weeks or so earlier and unbeknown to me, my Other Half to be was out having lunch with a mutual friend. He used to work with her but had left for pastures new and Iwas now on work placement at the office that he had just left. So our paths had never crossed. He was walking our friend back to the office after their regular lunchtime meet-up and he spotted me crossing the road and asked our friend if she knew me and of course, she did. But it was a week or so later that she was talking to him on the phone one day and I was sat right opposite her (I know, personal calls during work hours! Tut tut!) and after much he said, she said, our mutual friend, our very own Cupid, had set up a blind date. Well, blind on my part at least as he had caught a glimpse of me..

I was seventeen, young, free and single and definitely up for a laugh. But the thought of a blind date still seemed like a bit of a mad one. So it was agreed that we would meet at lunchtime and I would take Cupid and our other friend along so it was to be more of a casual meeting, rather than a scary date. That said, I did rush out the day before to buy a new outfit..

So the day arrived, 27th October 1994. A date I’ll always remember but little did I know it of course. But fate had stepped in (with a little help from Cupid!) and from the minute we arrived at the horrible (but closest to the office!) pub, I just knew that this was meant to be. Instantly. I never even knew that I believed in love at first sight. But it was so much more than a physical attraction, it was a meeting of minds and we just clicked from the off. We were both clearly nervous but it didn’t matter. I think we both just knew, right then and there that this was the real thing.

Cupid and my friend soon felt like gooseberries and made a not too subtle escape and that lunch hour flew by. Back at the office, Cupid spent the next hour quizzing me and then the next hour after that on the phone quizzing my Other Half! Cupid came over to my desk and said, “He really likes you and really wants to see you again, but..” There was a but?! I was gutted! But only temporarily.. “He told me, not to tell you, but I am anyway. He is skint and can’t afford to take you out until he gets paid next week.” Ahh, what can I say? We were both young and poor! But of course that didn’t matter a bit to me and a date was set for the following week, on his payday!

That time, he picked me up from work and off we went on a proper date. Just the two of us. And we haven’t looked back since.

Sixteen years later, here we are. Standing the test of time, still very much in love. I think our story makes me think that fate did play a hand. Some things are just meant to be. My Other Half spotted me crossing a busy road out of the crowd and happened to be out with to lunch with somebody who knew me. A minute later, I wouldn’t have been there, he would never have spotted me, you know? 

We have never made it down the aisle. We did get engaged just 7 months after meeting with every intention of getting married. But for whatever reason, it never quite happened. Life has always got in the way but I guess it just can’t be that important to us as we would have done it well before now. But we are happy as we are. I don’t think being married would make any difference.

And anyway, this way we get to celebrate the anniversary of our first date and the anniversary of our engagement! Well, when I say celebrate, what I mean is, if I’m very lucky, he’ll get me a Toblerone on the way home from work! Who said romance was dead?!