Wednesday 28 July 2021

To The Nines

Hello, dear readers!

Today is a good day.

Well, so far it is, anyway. I’ve got a very real hope that the rest of the day will progress in a similar fashion too, though. You see, today is a day that has long been put aside for celebration, food, drink, and all the other good stuff. Today marks a very special day in the calendar. A day which, nine years ago, transformed my entire life.

Yes, today is my wedding anniversary.

Sweet Dreams
I say mine, but it takes two to tango, possibly three if you’re a wheelchair user, and today is a day shared by me and the wonderful woman I am so lucky to call my wife. If you’ve had the dubious fortune to read this blog for any length of time, you might have met her (at least in the virtual sense). Her name is Tina and today, in a rush of saccharine-sweet sentiment, I’d like to dedicate this blog to her.



As I say, myself and the increasingly long suffering Mrs Rankin tied the knot nine years ago this very day. We met some two years previous to that and, after a year, I whisked her off to Paris (courtesy of my wonderful parents) and popped the question. I wanted to do this atop the Eiffel Tower (it has a lift which gets you somewhere near the summit), but Tina’s dislike of heights put the kibosh on that plan. It was probably for the best, as I’m prone to the odd bout of vertigo myself.

In the end, I settled on popping the question at a little bistro, after a bowlful of escargot. I refrained from the ‘down-on-one-knee’ bit, because, well, I’d probably still be there now.

Photo Finish
Then, precisely one year and one day later. Myself and Tina found ourselves at The Crowne Plaza hotel in my native Leeds, dressed to the nines (whatever the nines are. I really must look that up at some point), and with a remarkable lack of first night nerves.


 
The day went by in a blur, as I’m sure most of these days do. I’m not saying that champagne, Jack Daniels, or Yeager Bombs had no part in that blurriness, you understand, but as most of the alcohol didn’t come into play until the reception, I’m not sure it can take all the blame. I’m only glad that we still have photographic proof of the day to encourage our memories to cooperate.

As I’ve mentioned, that rather wonderful day was nine whole years ago (to the day). And those nine years have been nothing if not eventful. There have been, by my count, just three of those years have passed without either myself or Tina being hospitalised for one reason or another. In and among those reasons were functional strokes and kidney stones (Tina) a nearly erupting bladder and Multiple Sclerosis (me)… and those are just the highlights.

So, yeah, that takes care of the ‘In sickness and in health’ bit, and as some of those ailments led to periods of unemployment for one or the other of us, ‘for richer of poorer’ can get marked off, too. For better or worse? Well, I think that one goes without saying (although we both did)

And that only leaves ‘til death do us part’, which might seem a bit gloomy on the face of it. The truth of the matter is that it’s probably the most important bit of all.


The Stand
Things change, you see. It’s the only constant that exists in this crazy, mixed-up existence, but throughout all those changes our relationship, our marriage has been a rock upon which we can both rely. It was one reason we chose ‘I’ll stand by you’ by The Pretenders as our first song (well, that and the intended irony), and I know, with as much certitude as I know anything, that whatever twists and turns lie in store, and whatever maladies and mishaps life chooses to chuck our way, Tina and I will always have each other to rely on. It takes the edge off, it really does.

Now, I can only speak for myself, but personally, I cannot for one second think of any other person I would have liked to experience the trials and tribulations of the last few years with (sorry Kylie), and there is no-one I would want to stand (you know what I mean) alongside to face whatever is to come. Hopefully, it’s nine years of plain sailing and maybe a lottery win or two but as long as I have this very special lady beside me, then maybe, just maybe, that will be enough.

Until next week.

No comments:

Post a Comment