14 years ago I was 28 years old. I had recently graduated from Dundee University as a mature student with a 2:1 degree in Philosophy.
14 years ago the future looked good. With my new degree I knew the world was going to beat its way to my door to offer me a well paid career utilising my creativity and intelligence.
14 years ago the trial of OJ Simpson was moving towards its dramatic climax. We all knew he’d done it, and we all knew he was going to walk free because corrupt and racist cops had framed him.
14 years ago, it was 5 years since I’d first met Maggie and her children, who were then aged only 9, 7 and 4 and were now 14, 12 and 9. These days they are now 28, 26 and 23.
14 years ago our son, Rogan, was 3 months old. I had not bothered looking for a job since I’d graduated, preferring instead to enjoy fatherhood across the long warm summer months, and knowing the world was going to beat its way to my door to offer me a well paid career utilising my creativity and intelligence as soon as I was ready.
14 years ago my hair was shortish on the top and longish at the back, as suited the fashion 10 years previously.
14 years ago Mel Gibson adopted a dodgy Scottish accent, painted his face blue and yelled FREEDOM! a lot in Braveheart. In the film he also sported a hairstyle that was shortish on the top and longish at the back, as suited the fashion 10 years previously.
14 years ago Maggie and I got married. It was a small affair. I think the whole thing cost less than £87. We had very little money as I was unemployed, but that didn’t matter because I was just starting to apply for jobs and it was only a matter of time before the world was going to beat its way to my door to offer me a well paid career utilising my creativity and intelligence.
14 years ago, if I had been given a thousand chances to predict the future and the path our lives would follow, I would have been wrong on every account.
Except one.
14 years ago I knew, as our hearts and souls entwined, we would be in love with each other forever
Happy anniversary my love x
For anyone who loves back stories, visit Tin Wedding Anniversary written 4 years ago
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Very Touching. :) Congratulations on your 14 years!
ReplyDeleteI am 7 months away from 1 year. I know counting months is a little bit childish but oh well.
Cannot wait to get to where you are today.
Did the world ever come beating on your door utilizing your creativity and intelligence? I sure hope so because from the looks of it you have a lot to offer to the world.
Happy 14th Anniversary to the both of you..=D
ReplyDeletewow, that was beautiful, congratulations.
ReplyDeleteAaahem, is that a hawaiian-style sunset on your waistcoast - if so at least your consistent with the fashion of the previous decade.
Hi. Visiting from Blogs of Note. Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary!
ReplyDeleteAwww! Happy Anniversary! You're lucky to have each other.
ReplyDeleteWell put!
ReplyDeleteThat was the most meaningful anniversary gift ever given to a spouse.
Love the mullett. I too had one of these cuts. Totally practical. Business in the front, party in the back.
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary.
ReplyDeleteOh no, It's September its the autumnal equinox that means . . .
It's our 24th wedding anniversary.
Alan
That is a wonderful tribute to a happy day. How lovely! Happy Anniversary!
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary, sugarpies! xoxoxo
ReplyDeleteIsn't love grand?!
ReplyDeleteCongrats you two.
Isn't fashion grand?!
Happy Anniversary you two.
ReplyDeleteGreat memories too.
Absolutely beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWishing you a happy anniversary.
This post made me smile so BIG! I love the picture of the two of you and I thank you for sharing your life with the world. PLEASE KIM, don't worry about posting a comment for me. I know you want to answer all of us, but your doing that by allowing us into your life, and I thank you.
ReplyDeletehow great you are with words!! and you have reminded me to thing about what i was doing and who I was 14 yrs ago....I was leaving my first husband and planning to run away across the pond!! (and I did it too) x
ReplyDeleteLove the photo...and of course your writing! Wonderful reminiscing.
ReplyDeleteThis post made me smile. Every time I get too cynical and the scars left by my failed marriage start to ache again, a happily-ever-after story comes along and gives me a smart little slap back to reality. I remain as skittish as ever (once burned, twice shy), but hope is rekindled.
ReplyDeleteHealth, wealth, and happiness to you both! : )
That was entertaining! The photo gave me a laugh ;)
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary to you both. You're still but a lad to me.
ReplyDeleteIvory is the symbol but gold jewellry will do or moss agate. I hope you give yourselves a treat.
"September - Marry in September's shine so that your life is rich and fine."
And now, 14 years later, the world beats a path to your door to wish you "Happy Anniversary"! Ain't life grand!!! Happy Anniversary from across the pond.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday!
ReplyDeleteQuid sit futurum eras, fuge quaerere.
Well that's just precious. :)
ReplyDeleteHappy anniversary.
seriously sweet!!well done, congrats and....AWWWWWW!!!the world needs more couples like you two me thinks..
ReplyDeleteAww that's really lovely! Came across you via Blogs of Note ... congratulations to you and your wife! :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary. Nice post.
ReplyDelete---Jen
congradulations on 14 yrs, I have been married 5 we have been together for 7, and it keeps getting better!!!
ReplyDeletealmost forgot pls read my blogs and let me know what you think!!! thanks
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary and very well put!
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary! What an interesting and funny way to chronicle your 14th year together! Hooray! :)
ReplyDeleteLaShawn
i love to reminence. congrats on being together so long.
ReplyDeletehttp://nefertarispunk.blogspot.com/
So touching and absolutely wonderful. I think both you and your lovely wife, Maggie are incredibly lucky to have found each other!
ReplyDeleteHere's to many more Happy Anniversaries in the future!
Congratulations on continuing to make the daily choice to love each other. I hope you have many more.
ReplyDeleteБлизнецы - the world never did beat its way to my door. And after turning 30 a couple of years later, I finally realised it wasn't going to, so decided to take matters into my own hands. I've been self employed ever since
ReplyDeletePatrick - thank you :)
Gleaner - Maggie made it for me. I had a few brightly coloured waistcoats she'd done for me :)
Taz - welcome, and thank you :)
Coralee - thank you :)
Kyslp - thank you - I know and she knows :)
Khanh Ha - thank you
Ed - mind you, earlier in the 80s there was always the option of long on one side and short on the other. So long as you partied to the right and worked to the left, life was a breeze...
Thrup'ny bits - Congratulations!
Stephanie Ann - thank you :)
Ah, splendid. I'd been looking for expert confirmation that Mel Gibson's Scottish accent was dodgy...I've suspected it for some time now but have been unable to prove it.
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary and Many Happy Returns! Congratulations, to boot. Glad to hear there was one thing that came true fourteen years later. As for the world beating down your door, take heart...Moses, Gandhi and Edison had to bang away at their jobs for years before anything came of it.
That is very nice. :) Happy Anniversary to the both of you. Wishing you another 14 more!
ReplyDeleteSavannah - thank you :)
ReplyDeleteMapstew - aye. Fortunately my skills at love have outweighed my skills at fashion. Much better than the other way round :)
Charlie - thanks :)
Jan - thank you :)
Jennifer - don't worry, I'm not posting a reply to you, it's just an illusion...
Straw76berry - taking your life into your own hands is always a good thing, provided you live to tell the tale - and it looks like you have :)
Allen - thank you :)
~:C:~ - They never tell you happily ever after requires work, need and desire on both sides. Shared vision of the future is not always an easy thing to find or create, and I never take for granted how fortunate I am to have found someone to share with
Red Lotus - may your life be long enough so your past fashions come back to haunt you... :)
ReplyDeletePat - it's certainly been rich, just not in the financial sense...
Onemockingbirdhill - thank you :)
Weightless - anniversary, actually, but I forgive you :)
TalesNtypos - thank you :)
RagDoll - thank you :)
Danielle - welcome, and thanks :)
Jen - thanks - good to see you again :)
Oscarsgrl - I'm pleased for you. To my mind, a good marriage only gets better. All the crap life throws at us, only makes our bond stronger
RainyWest - thank you :)
LaShawn - thank you :)
ReplyDeleteMcLarin - thanks :)
Shawn - we both appreciate how lucky we are to have found each other :)
Fumblingconfidence - thank you :)
Postman - I'm not so bothered about the world beating its way to my door any more. With the CFS, I don't have the energy for it...
Jasmine - thank you :)
Thanx the comment, and I'm with you there, I don't worry about others, I trust my husband, and am secure in my marriage!!!
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary! What a personal yet global way of putting those 14 years into perspective for all of us readers...
ReplyDeletehere's to many more years!
Happy Anniversary. What a lovely, poetic way of expressing your sentiments. - Jayne
ReplyDeleteThat was just a super cool sweet ending. Congrats to you both! Loved the look back....
ReplyDeleteThat's so touching, I haven't even existed for 14 years. I'm new here, but congrats anyway.
ReplyDeleteGood Post. Solid Read. Hearty Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteoscarsgrl - that's always nice to hear :)
ReplyDeleteLittle Lord - thank you :)
Jayne - thanks :)
Mary - I was never a fashion leader :)
Foxylady - 14 years is more than your life. 14 years is 1/3 of my life. This is why it feels like life speeds up as we get older :)
56 - thank you :)
Awww. That's lovely. Happy Anniversarie to the two of you!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful love letter! Some things just meant to be. Happy anniversary!
ReplyDeleteI like your heart and the words that come out of it.
absolutely beautiful... your give inspiration to those who hope to beat the statistics. bravo
ReplyDeleteExcellent thoughts and sentiments, Kim. CONGRATULATIONS to you both.
ReplyDeleteWow, fourteen years ago, I graduated and moved to Japan. Fourteen years can seem like a breeze, but a lot can happen during that time.
Congratulations on your anniversary! Mullets forever!
ReplyDeleteCongrats to you and your wife! We just had our 32nd. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.
ReplyDeleteLovely !
ReplyDeletecongratulations...
cheers. . . parsnip
So very beautiful! Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteI met my husband 5 years ago tonight.
(He was not sporting a mullet but did have sort of a young man's comb-over.)
bloody hell!! i shattered just scrolling through your comments, never mind reading them!! think im gonna be number 55.
ReplyDeletelove the post. made me laugh at 4.58 am!! no mean feat, i can assure you
cheers andy c
p.s. looking at your photo, i have to ask again, are you sure your not australian???
Lil Gema - thank you :)
ReplyDeleteErika - thank you for your warm words :)
Hellbent on Life - thank you :)
Branden - 14 years is 1/3 of my life, but before then feels like a different lifetime altogether
Masked Scribbler - NOOOOOooooooo....
Cindy - congrats on your 32nd! You were a child bride, of course :)
Parsnip - thanks :)
Lisa - congratulations! Just as well he wasn't sporting a mullet, or you might not be celebrating today... ;)
BD Barman - I can't be an Aussie - I can't surf, I'm crap at barbeques, and I thought bush tucker was a form of oral sex
Happy anniversary to you both.
ReplyDeleteKim, that is lovely!
ReplyDeleteAnd what do you do now regarding using your creativity and intelligence?
Quality stuff. I used to live in Stirling, Scotland, but noe I live in Thailand via China.
ReplyDeleteMike
SeaShore - thank you. Is that a new profile pic? You're looking good :)
ReplyDeleteHelen's Angel - thank you :) Now I help my wife withe business side of her art and am developing my own portrait photography business, while trying to steer a course through CFS and blogging :)
Mike - I used to live up near Stirling too - in the Hillfoots :)
Saw your blog on blogs of note. Congrats.
ReplyDeleteFranzine - thank you, and welcome :)
ReplyDeleteVery amusing and yet emotional and heartwarming at the end. Happy anniversary, hope you guys will add at least 30 more years!
ReplyDeleteLove, Gitta
Gitta - I'm hoping for another 70, at least...
ReplyDeleteThat's beautiful, I love your back story. When it's meant to be it's meant to be. I felt and feel the same way about the word "love" and also my wedding rings. They are so precious for what they signify, and yet there in no metal precious enough, a pathetic symbol for the volume of what we share.
ReplyDeletehttp://crispy-not-crunchy.blogspot.com/
Thanks, Kim. My husband & I have also been married 14 years and much has changed in those years except our love. Well, I guess that has changed, too. It's deeper and more secure.
ReplyDeleteYou are so lucky to have each other, happy anniversary!
ReplyDeleteCheryl - thank you :)
ReplyDeleteSuz - that's always lovely to hear :)
Confessionsit - we are both very aware of this, which helps :)
Kim So Wonderfully put!!!Wow Happy Anniversary!!
ReplyDeleteYou know you have a nice blog and it is interesting how long it took to get 40 followers, if you were telling the truth, or what I really mean, being modest. I would think you would have way more than that.. Truth be known, it is quite funny how many people love to follow blogs and check back in every now and then! But don't you feel a tad over whelmed with your new status< Probably not! You seem pretty confident. Congratulations on your blog success and your anniversary!
ReplyDeleteAnez - thank you :)
ReplyDeleteDeborah - Absolutely, genuinely, honestly, just before the Blogs of Note thing hit, I had 40 followers according to the Google Follower gadget. Now I have over 800. And yes, it is overwhelming, but in a few days time I'll have dropped off the top 10 latest Blogs of Note and I expect the visitor numbers to drop off too
Happy belated anniversary :) to all three of you: you, your beautiful wife and that mullet you've got going in the picture, I'm glad to see you've since retired it :)
ReplyDeletebreathtaking.
ReplyDeleteBrittan - I've been without the mullet for 11 years now. Although the first few days I found my head kept lolling forward withou the counterweight on the back :)
ReplyDeleteHindsfeet - what, the fact that someone ever married a man with a hairstyle like that?
i too sported a mullet some 14 years ago. wishing you a happy aniversary, with many happy returns.nick
ReplyDeleteNikgee - thank you :)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on you milestone, just don't walk out of the house one day and proclaim "FREEDOM" women do not like that. Cheers.
ReplyDelete