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It was our fifth wedding anniversary today. I mean I thought we might stay married for a while, but this is ridiculous. In Richard Herring relationship years this is our 30th anniversary.
But I quite like my wife and unless I get a better offer I reckon I will stick this out. And it’s unlikely I will get a better offer, due to my wife being the most brilliant person on the planet earth (but you know aliens and robots might still top that).
We went to a posh hotel for the night for dinner and maybe more. And by "maybe more" I mean sleep. Because for the first time we were both going away and leaving our daughter at home. She’s two and a sixth now and totally capable of looking after herself.
It’s crazy to think that we haven’t had a night away with just the two of us since 2014, but that makes this rare treat all the more enjoyable. The sun was shining and we sat in the gardens of the hotel, waiting for our room to be ready, both unable to believe that five years had passed since we tied a knot that seems to be holding good. Which given my inability to tie knots, both literal and figurative, in the past is pretty impressive. We sat under a tree, which shed blossom on to my wife’s hair, just as she’d been strewn with petals five years before. The Universe nodding to the past and showing its approval. I believe in magic every now and again.
It was a one night holiday, but as much of a tonic as a fortnight off. Just to sit in the sunshine and have nothing to do and no one to care for and no arses to wipe (except my own - I wanted to relax, but I was romantic enough not to go quite that far) felt like we were royalty. We drank champagne, Catie had a massage, I watched the Simpsons in the bath (there was a TV in the bathroom!!) and had an amazing dinner.
We resolved to treat ourselves more and take more time off together, but life has a way of grabbing hold of you and spinning you round and it takes three years to stop feeling dizzy and realise that you’ve totally neglected to do what you planned.
What we once took for granted is now the greatest of luxuries. But as long as every now and again you step back and realise how lucky you are, then all is OK.
