to listen to me whine?

Well I hope not, because this might just be the happiest and most positive blog post I have written for a long time. We have just had a weekend that I would describe as simply perfect and I just want to shout from the roof top about how fucking good life is right now. Caroline and I watched Moonage Daydream over the weekend and, as ever, the wisdom of David Bowie speaks to me describing an appreciation of life, love and time that can only come with experience and is just not possible to comprehend as a young person. To fall head over heels in love in your fifties, with all those life experiences, good and bad, to build upon, is a truly magical thing. Trust me, I can be a very cynical person at times and if I look back only 12 months ago it was very difficult to see a future that was dominated by anything other than regrets, frustration and memories. Falling in love has completely transformed my outlook, renewing my excitement for the now and making plans for the future, I don’t say that lightly and I want to shout it to myself and to the world.

So where did this sudden out pouring come from? Well, I was sitting on the bus on Saturday afternoon actually and just felt this overwhelming sense of happiness and haven’t really stopped smiling ever since, but that doesn’t really explain anything I guess so I’ll share a little of the last few weeks with you and see if that sheds any light.

Back in October, Caroline had some fairly major surgery that all went very well but required a period of rest and recovery. This gave us an opportunity to spend almost every day together as her work commitments were reduced and she couldn’t drive to get away from me. While there were some restrictions on what we could do during this period, not going into those details though, we were able to just be ourselves and do lots of ‘normal’ and it was just a simple and lovely time. To avoid Caroline getting all the attention I managed to put my back out for a couple of weeks and also suffer from some nasty coughs and colds almost throughout. Perhaps the health issues masked my enjoyment of this time together a little.

As normal started to return in early December we were both quite clear that we wanted ‘normal’ to be time together. Time apart was to become the exception in order to work when necessary. We had a few days in Coppull including family visits, finally getting our travel jabs, a pre-xmas garden centre outing and we also cooked Sunday dinner together for Caroline’s family. I even squeezed in a night out with mates in Swinton and Monton. After a couple of days apart we were reunited in Lanehead and spent an evening watching films, cooking together and making candles. We then travelled together to baby sit for my Grandson last Friday and then dashed back home to Lanehead for the annual Village People Christmas Dinner. It was on the bus down the dale to Eastgate on Saturday that I smiled and properly realised just how bloody happy I am right now, the full combination of family, friends, this place and my love for an amazing woman all just overwhelmed me with joy.

We are heading off travelling over the holidays and I will blog about that either as we go or when we get back, not sure which but I think this is an occasion for us to focus on ourselves as a couple and have an adventure all of our own. So I will sign off sending Christmas and New Year good wishes to all of my friends and family who have kept up with this story and played a major role in the foundations for this happy chapter, I love you all. And to Caroline:

… When you rock and roll with me
No one else I’d rather be

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