That Ginger Guy

1 year ago today, I had dinner with a friend from college that I hadn't seen in 16 or 17 years. That night sparked a really beautiful friendship. A while later, that beautiful friendship sparked an eccentric, fun-filled, action packed, intense and extraordinary relationship. There has been sickness and health, there have been good times and bad, laughter and tears but, at the centre of it all has been that friendship.

This morning I woke to a message telling me to look under my bed. There I find a wrapped parcel.

Unwrapping the gift, I discovered a photo album full, literally cover to cover, of photos and memories from the last 12 months.

With every turn of the page a new memory is jogged and it confirms what we already both knew: We have fitted so much into our year. Only this week I have said that we have forgotten more than we can remember. This album reminds me of some of the many things I'd forgotten. It allows me to reminisce on a year that has seen so many ups and downs but has, somehow, produced smiles and laughter consistently. It allows me to take a moment and feel, in my heart, the love and warmth which has only ever grown in that time.

We haven't got it all right. There are a few things we'd change and there are a few of the 31 million seconds we've shared that we would like to forget entirely. But in the grand scheme of all that time, those seconds represent a minuscule fraction.

In front of me, I have an album of the first year of a story. It's the story of a year that was always going to throw up challenges, didn't disappoint and found ways to create more...but it's our story.

I love the time, care, effort and thoughtfulness that has gone it it's creation and Jen,you are beautiful and I love you very much. Thank you.

I'll be waiting just inside the door at 7. x