No, not a Red Letter Day. A Pearl Letter Day. Much better.

Earlier today I realised that today was a major milestone for Noreen and I. Some months ago we were discussing the times before we were married and trying to work out when we actually first “had it off”; we remember it well (as one would) but not the exact date. Noreen went back through her diaries to find that the relevant page was missing! But in the process she discovered that 23 June 1979 was the day she moved into the Chiswick flat with me. So today was christened “Cohabiting Day”, and it was 30 years ago today. A pearl anniversary.

The day has been celebrated in a low key kind of way. No cards, no presents, no dinner out. (Would that we had some decent nearby restaurants!) Just a normal work day, but followed by Chicken Salad à la Maison, a bottle of good white wine, a large bowl of cherries between us and a liqueur. Hic! Who knows what an early night (if it happens) might bring?!

And fingers crossed that we make our 30th wedding anniversary in early September.

It’s all a bit scary though; we’ve been married for longer than we haven’t! We still don’t know how we’ve done it. We still ask each other “How?”. And we still don’t take it for granted – which I suppose is part of the secret; it makes us keep concentrating! Even in the more difficult times there remains something magic about waking up next to each other every morning.

Oh and for the insatiably curious, the 30th anniversary of “First Fucking Day” was about ten days before last Christmas and we got engaged on 30th December – but that’s a story for another day, perhaps!

And for the even more insatiably curious, here’s a wedding photo. (I’m the plonker with the moustache! – you mean you couldn’t guess!! And best not ask about the “ear muffs”.)

Now how scary is that?!