First Date With The Wife

32 Years next month

I watched “First Dates” last night and my thoughts drifted back to my first date with my wife that wasn’t actually a first date but that will unfold before you. It was a strange one as for a while I had been developing a major crush on my future wife who was a friend. We did a lot of socialising and a lot of drinking among our group of friends.

When I first met her, she was standing in front of me pint glass in hand, a comment was past, and my reply was not for me and left it like that. We became good mates and I began to warm to her has time passed I began to feel drawn to her with more than friendly feelings.

There was a problem, a big problem, she was dating a mate, and that made her off grounds, totally. I had other irons in the fire that I was hoping would mature but the one I wanted was never going to happen because we were lost to one another. So it looked like my on off girlfriend would continue with our ‘friend with benefits’ relationship.

So I knew this particular night she was meeting a friend for drinks while I was sitting at home wondering if it was worth going out on a cold January night. My peaceful night was then interrupted with a knock on the door. It was Glenys (the wife) coming a calling after her friend failed to turn up and I had no idea why she was at my door? I asked her if she remembered why this morning but for not feeling like going home, she couldn’t recall.

After a bit of a chat we decided to head for the pub The Great Western in town our normal drinking hole in the hope some of our friends were partaking of a drink or two. No, it was just us two so we sat about talking. I vaguely remember we talked about everything going on in our lives and the subject of my girlfriend was brought up and I explained about our strange relationship and why it was not love. I explained the word love was too important to mess about with and telling someone you loved him or her was a life commitment.

I have always thought the same about the word love since I was a young lad that it was too big of a word to throw around willy-nilly. I have only ever used it once and that was with the woman I married.

Anyway, she asked me if I liked her, which rather shocked me, but by now, it was as if cupid’s arrow, which had begun melting away, got a boost of life again. However, mindful she was dating a mate I replied all angst,

“Look you are dating someone, and yes I like you! If you were single who knows”.

A bit of awkward silence and we were soon heading toward the bus station.

As I made my way home, I wondered if I could have just blown a friendship for being a bit too honest. The next day we agreed to keep the previous night to ourselves. By the end of the week, she had broken off her relationship and quietly we started dating. It was a bit awkward to say the least keeping our flourishing relationship to ourselves and after a month or so broke our news to our friends.

Funny thing was my mum who had met Glenys before we started going out said she knew we were destined to be a couple. Mums always know.