It’s our twelth anniversary today. That’s the anniversary of the first time we, erm, enjoyed LI (sorry!). We’ve known each other for about 15 years but when we first met he was with someone else – I went to their engagement party actually, bloody good bash 😉 and I was going out with Will, who lived in the same rented house as Ady and his then girlfriend Dionne..
This photo is from a night we all had while we were still with the original partners – I would have been 17 and Ady would have been 27.
We got together shortly after he and Dionne split up (although I think it’s safe to say now it wasn’ t just a rebound relationship 😉 ) – I had just finished with the boyfriend who had moved back to Weymouth (you might remember him from the being sick inside my jeans in a nightclub toilet story earlier this year!) and Will (the ex from earlier) had moved in with Ady when Dionne moved out. He was getting fed up with him moping around and stopping him from having a good time pulling birds in nightclubs by being all morose and sitting staring into his pint muttering about being nearly 30 so he asked me to take him out and get him pissed one night to give him a break! (Will and I had remained on friendly terms, eventually, and infact as I recall we were going through one of our really very friendly periods at the time 😉 so I was happy to do him a favour).
So I took Ady out to Brighton for the night and we had a really good evening. We started going out most nights and after about 2 weeks he started to go all gooey on me and tell me he loved me and had always liked me even when he was with Dionne. I was 19 and planning to go to university the following year, had just finished this messy relationship with Weymouth bloke, was casually seeing Will and really rather enjoying being single. I was very clear to him that I was not interested, loved him as a mate but was certainly not in the market for a proper grown up relationship which was what he was wanting.
Anyway, as When Harry Met Sally taught us men and women do indeed struggle to be ‘just friends’ particularly when alcohol, late nights, and naughty intentions on at least one half of the couples part come into play. Hence the occasion we celebrate today!
Fast forward six months and we had bought the house we live in today, so somewhere along the line he convinced me otherwise on the whole going to uni, not getting serious, not ready to be a grown up thing 🙂
There was quite an outcry when we ‘went public’. We both worked at the same B&Q where I was known as the party girl out for a good time and he was known as the more mature, nice guy who had already had his heart broken by Dionne and really really should not be mixing with the likes of me. Infact one of the older women who worked there (and fancied herself as something of a surrogate mother to Ady on account of his not having one of his own!) even spoke to my Mum about it to ask her to ask me to be gentle with him!!! Everyone said it would never last, if I’m honest I probably didn’t even expect it to last myself.
Today, by pure coincidence Ady is at the same B&Q store we were working in back then. He is going to sit in that same staff room where our relationship was discussed and debated and judged later today and he intends to tell everyone – including the woman who spoke to my mum and still works there – that it is 12 years ago now, a marriage, two children and many, many happy memories and – Chris’ impending doom theory aside – we fully intend for it to carry on working, carry on being right and carry on being wonderful.
Hmm, be gentle with him, won’t you.
Congratulations. 🙂
Comment by Tim — 17 June 2005 @ 9:09 am
aaaaaahhh!
Comment by Sarah — 17 June 2005 @ 9:48 am
Aw bless. Happy Anniversary lovely people.
Comment by Jenny — 17 June 2005 @ 10:41 am
LOL! Happy LI anniversary! I expect full celebrations to happen in the Goddard household tonight, and yes- be gentle with him!
We were told ours would never last as we were both only 17…now we’re 31! and enough memories and baggage of every description to boot :-).
Well done guys 🙂
Comment by Roslyn — 17 June 2005 @ 2:03 pm
Awwww – enjoy your evening 😉 and congratulations.
Comment by Barbara — 17 June 2005 @ 10:57 pm
Giggle – hope you weren’t *too* gentle 😉
Congrats to you both 🙂 12 years sounds like an awfully long time, but C and I only have about 2 years 2 1/2 months to go …
Like the picture 🙂
Comment by Alison — 18 June 2005 @ 3:17 am
Congratulations! Hope you’ve had a lovely time.
Comment by Ali — 18 June 2005 @ 11:00 pm
Congratulations! I love a good love story. Do tell us how it went with the B&Q staff!
Comment by Joanna — 19 June 2005 @ 11:09 am
Aaahhhh congratulations you pair. xx
Comment by Karen b — 19 June 2005 @ 3:52 pm