Big question. As a young teenage boy I used to listen to pop songs and hear the plaintive words of a lost love or the sting that rejection generates. The words depicting true love and its associated joy. I wondered what it was all about. Would I find out? How does the whole thing work?
I am writing here about my personal experiences with a very special person. The person I have shared the majority of my life with. The person who has shared my greatest joys and witnessed my deepest lows has shared in wonderful adventures and created environments where true happiness as been touched. I hope she might read it and realise, if indeed she does not already, just how much she means to me.
If you meet someone for the first time, before a word is spoken, in those few seconds of time an impression is formed-the first sight thing. Your brain takes a series of pictures, millions probably, and your on-board computer whirs away and produces a result-sometimes a very powerful one.
When I met Liz I now realise that those pictures taken in my mind carried with them a number of messages. Her hair was immaculately cut and full of style. Her figure, whilst slim was toned and well muscled, the details of her appearance were considered with a simple but stylish necklace, a cool watch and a single simple gold band on her wrist. Her smile instinctive and open. The all round package was very cool and very very pretty.(a word not used so much now but in this case totally appropriate). Her voice was soft without a discernible accent and our first conversation revealed a sharp wit-mildly self deprecating.
Goodness knows what she thought of me at the time but there on a beach on a beautiful Greek Isle all my senses had received a jolt, a very good one.
Later that day Liz appeared in her finery. In this case a sort of flowing loose fitting turquoise dress. Long in the skirt with a strange pointed hem. Her nails painted, simple makeup and all the add ons somehow just right. I danced with her in an open air disco and the warm summer wind caused her dress to fill like a sail, her particular dance steps unique and captivating. She whirled around creating a spell.
By now you will realise that in a very short period of time I had been utterly captivated by this young woman. As life has gone on those early messages my brain received have been confirmed in everything she is. I have also discovered a woman who is very bright and when called upon to do so can forensically examine any question or research any task as befits her academic achievement. One thing few might suspect but not know is she has the most delightful sense of humour. Not a joke teller or a prankster but an ability to wryly summon up anyone or any situation if it diverts from the expected.
All the qualities she possesses have forged a person who has the highest of standards. She treasures possessions and cares for them. Kitchen utensils or sofas or fine clothes stay that way because she respects the effort and thought that have caused them to be part of our lot. The food she prepares is considered and healthy. If it is time for fun it is she who will lead the charge.
I suppose if you meet someone who captivates you it is inevitable you try harder your self and in doing so a relationship develops whereby both partners will strive to please each other. All I do know is Liz and I have made a large number of homes together and our industry has paid us back through experience and yes financially.
Having someone alongside who has shared my drive to seek adventure is perhaps the icing on the cake. We have cycled miles, raced in marathons, swam long distances side by side and even ‘failed’ together in the same Ironman Triathlon race. I have watched her win races stand on podiums and carry the GB vest around race courses in far away places. If I could somehow package that sense of pride and admiration I have felt watching her I would be a very wealthy man indeed.It is she who encourages me, it is she who sets the standards in our training and it is she who has sat with me often late in the night celebrating any particular achievement. We have sailed Ocean going yachts in storms together flown in small planes around the Eiffel Tower and The Grand Canyon we have grinned at each other across the table of some of the finest restaurants in the world. Our shared book of adventures meets the very best of my childhood expectation and then some. All of this from a chance meeting on a beach.
Whilst I hope Liz knows how grateful I am to her I reckon it is appropriate to register my thanks here. Have you felt the power of love? Yes I have, for many years and if anything it is now stronger than ever.
Tales of a Life Well Lived 