This is a personal page and you can skip it if you like.

But I’m going to write it anyway, because it’s my site and I can do what I like.

It all started on this day 32 years ago, before most of you were even born.

He was a bashful bloke who enjoyed a pint and a singsong. She was a beautiful girl who worked in the same building.

He never had the nerve to ask her out because he didn’t have the confidence, and she didn’t seem to notice he existed anyway.

One evening someone was having a leaving-do down the pub, so the office was there in strength. He had his guitar out as usual, and there was a good singsong going. Next thing, he realised She was sitting next to him.. Of course the ol’ Guinness gave him Dutch courage and he chatted her up. They got on well.

One year later [to the day] they got married.

It wasn’t one of those modern weddings that costs as much as a small house. It was a country wedding. In the snow. And they all went to the hotel after and had a great meal and a singsong. People still talk about that wedding, and how it was one of the best they’d ever attended.

The couple soon bought a house and it took every penny they had. But they were happy.

Then a baby came along and they were even happier.

She left work to look after the baby, so they literally didn’t have two pennies to rub together. But they managed somehow, and they were even happier.

Years later, the baby had grown into a teenager. That was the start of the bad years.

Teenagers cost a lot, and the couple still didn’t have much so it was a struggle.

And teenagers cause a lot of grief. So times were hard. But they stuck with it, because they loved each other and they loved their daughter. Even if she did act like the child from hell.

But they got through all that in the end. The daughter grew up into a beautiful kind caring woman, and the child from hell was just a bad dream.

The years have passed. The daughter has left home and has two children of her own, but she calls to see them regularly.

They still don’t have much money because he is retired. But they own their own beautiful home and their needs are few so it doesn’t matter. They have everything they need.

The couple are no longer in love. They have gone much deeper than that. And they don’t talk much, because they know what each other is thinking. They are completely at peace with life.

So this is just a little note to Herself. Thank you for those wonderful 32 years. And here’s to the next 32.