by Jennifer St George
My husband and I just
celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary last night…one week
late! I love marking our wedding
bliss anniversary but I’m terrible with dates and forget every year. I know. I know. Hopeless. Fortunately my husband usually forgets
too so no harm done.
The date I remember
better than our actual wedding date is our ‘look across the room and fall in
love’ date. I was back in
Australia (I was living in London) for my sister’s wedding when my brother
invited me to a party of his friend.
I walked into the party, looked across the room and locked eyes with my
now husband. Love at second sight (we'd briefly five years earlier)
is possible.
There were however…complications.
We lived on opposite sides of the world. I flew back to London five days after
we met. This was prior to the
internet, so we spent a fortune on phone calls. My future husband flew to
London three months later, declared his undying love and said we could easily
manage a long distance relationship until he finished his speciality training
in two years time! So, we
committed.
I didn’t last
though. After nine months, I
arranged to complete my Masters Degree in Australia instead of the UK. So at least we were in the same
country, but not the same city. So
for the next year we travelled between Brisbane and Melbourne. Then finally after two and half years
of lots of international and domestic travel, lots of phone calls and a box
full of love letters, we ended up in the same city and were married six months
later.
So, that was seventeen
years ago and we are still going strong. So yes, we do forget our wedding
anniversary but we never forget those incredible years of anticipation of
starting our lives together. Good training for a romance novelist.
Love to hear about a date that really sticks in your mind...
My hubby and I had a long distance relationship for 3 years too, Jen. He got a job in Canberra and I'd just started my training in Rocky so yeh...we traveled back and forth a lot and there were a lot of letters. We got married 2 weeks after I finished my training :-)
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't know about a date that sticks in my mind. When you meet "the one" at 16 there's not a lot of dating going on and hubby doesn't have a romantic bone in his body! Lucky I love him :-)
Great story, Amy.
ReplyDeleteI think if you really love someone, long distance relationships are so doable. However, we had lots of people thinking it couldn't be done. I guess we are both proof that it can be.
Wow! Am applauding you, Jen, on managing a long-distance romance (and Amy too!). Patience certainly wasn't my virtue when I met the DH.
ReplyDeleteAs for dates…I always remember the date of our first kiss. :-) I always remember our wedding anniversary too -- we deliberately chose Australia Day as it meant our anniversary would fall on a public holiday. :-)
Ah, first kiss. Yes, a good date to remember, Michelle.
DeleteGreat idea choosing Australia Day.
Yeah, we're not the only ones. We got married on Labour weekend, in NZ, and that's all I remember. Certainly don't know the exact date as it changes slightly every year, but we do know labour weekend was our wedding. It was very special with only ten of our family and we were married in the restaurant where we went on to celebrate.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds so lovely and intimate, Sue.
DeleteWhat a beautiful story Jennifer I started going out with my hubby when I was 15 and he was 17 we got engaged when I was 18 married on my 20th birthday and still very happily married 37 years later we have 4 children and 7 grandchildren and although there have been some ups and downs it is still fun
ReplyDeleteHave Fun
Helen
That's such a beautiful story, Helen. Thirty-seven happy years...so lovely!
ReplyDeleteLovely story, Jen, but what is it with meeting 'the one' at the worst possible time? I met my hubby a few weeks before I left England to work in France. He had a job in England, so we did the letter thing for several months. I remember the excitement when a letter arrived, but more often than not I had to wait days and then they all came at once. (35 years married for us!)
ReplyDeleteI was the same, Claire. Loved those letters arriving.
DeleteWe often talk about what it would have been like if we'd actually been in the same city but think it was great the way we met. All those phone calls and letters meant we got to know each slowly and the anticipation of being together made getting together so much sweeter!!
Happy Anniversary! Thanks for sharing your story. So glad you were able to make it work.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sharlene. We are thrilled we made it work too!
ReplyDeleteHappy anniversary and huge congratulations, Jen! And I love your own personal romance story - it's gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI remember the first time I went out with my hubby-to-be - it was Valentine's Day as we were driving home just after mid-night. It must have been auspicious because we've been together now for 33 great years.