NOSTALGIA IN SEPTEMBER (3)

This one doesn’t lean back on any old ICA.

I mentioned previously that I’ll be on four trips in September that’ll involve overnight stays away from Villain Towers.  Today is the first of those trips, off to Paris for around 36 hours in the company of Rachel, as a crazy way to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.  It had only taken us more than seven years of living together to finally get round to it.  It was partly an unconventional day, despite the fact we are both dressed up to the nines.

It was a Monday morning, and the ceremony was followed by a lunch at which there were less than 30 folk present.  From there, we flew off to Florida for a few days to see my brother and his then girlfriend (and now wife), as he couldn’t take the risk of leaving the States for the wedding as there was no guarantee he’d get back in as he was in the middle of sorting out his application for permanent residency.  From there we went to St Thomas for ten days before coming back to Glasgow for a proper party on a Friday night, with band, disco and 250 guests all in attendance.

It’s only fair to say that there’s been a few ups and downs in the 25 years since, but we’ve made our way over the bumps without too much damage.  We have more than enough in common to stay together, but at the same time we have quite varied interests that see us spend a fair bit of time doing our ‘own’ things with different groups of friends.  It certainly works for us.

For instance, the reason we can only spend one overnight in Paris is that Rachel just yesterday returned from three days away on a delayed spa-break with her closest group of pals, while this weekend sees me head away on a golf trip with mates, an annual event going back to the late 80s.  We spoke about both events and how they were going to squeeze into the time around the anniversary, but felt it was important to fit in with those plans made by friends who wouldn’t have been aware of the significance of 8 September 2022 to us.

It’s amazing how love has evolved over time.  It certainly was full of grand, romantic and carefree gestures back in the day (particularly around the cost!!), but it is increasingly and essentially about offering each other support to cope with any stresses and strains of modern life, as well as just looking to enjoy those things we actually do together, much of which does involve sitting down in front of a television.

All of which makes today’s trip feel incredibly special.  We have made no advance plans to do anything once we reach Paris….no restaurant is booked and no trips to galleries/museums are scheduled as we want to make a return to the days when it was all on a whim and spontaneous.  I’m so looking forward to it.

Here’s some songs:-

mp3: The Wedding Present – Rachel
mp3: Echo and The Bunnymen – Silver (Tidal Wave)
mp3: Siobhan Wilson – Paris Est Blanche

Oh, and never let it be forgotten that Rachel was the real driving force in getting TVV off the ground back in 2006.  I was at a particularly low ebb, having just suffered a real setback at work and unsure of my future.  She was the one who went out and bought me a USB turntable to get the vinyl converted to digital format so that I could turn my hand to blogging.  It will always be the greatest thing anyone has ever done for me.

JC