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Deleted96908
Guest
I don’t know about you guys and gals, but I couldn’t live without my better half. She’s everything to me and my appreciation and love for her increases by the day. Which is kinda strange as I can’t imagine loving her more than I do, but come next week the relationship will have reached new highs, as it always does.
Now why is this? I’d like to think my wife is special, which to me she is of course, but I reckon, once couples get past the 7 year itch, both sides just get closer and closer until there isn't anything between them. Which suggests that love is a function of time, or is it? Can we meet and know that somebody is the right person, the minute we set eyes on them? That wasn’t the case for me, although it was very close. Here’s our story and would love to hear yours too.
I’d spent most of my late teens and twenties working in Africa and Asia. And as you can imagine life was exciting. But I’d never met anybody that made me feel instantly that she was the one. The one meaning she had to look great, be very smart, elegant, charming and of course, stand a good chance of helping me make great kids. Other must haves were no makeup, no high heels, no bad habits and… very fit. Now I know that most of these qualities are subjective, but our gut feel is all we have - unless you want a trophy wife - and if you are driven purely by your emotions it’s difficult to resist that urge when your heart goes nuts and your legs go wobbly. And that’s what happened to me. But not in the way you might think.
It was 1992 and I was product manager at Autodesk. My (software) products included 3D Studio and Animator (which is important to the story) and part of my job was exhibiting at trade events and generally raising the profile every chance I got. Now I’d heard of the London Computer Animation Festival and I had the bright idea of enquiring whether I could sponsor the prizes by giving away copies of 3D Studio. As it happened this turned out to be bit of a coup because the awards for things like best VFX in a Feature Film, were usually won by software programmes costing at least 10 times the £1950 that 3D Studio cost at the time. Anyway, I digress as the point of this was I rang up the Director of the Festival and we chatted on the phone. And my legs went wobbly and my heart went AWOL for the duration of the call. Yep, you’ve got it. I’d fallen for somebody I hadn’t even met and based purely on what she said and how she'd said it.
So feeling very nervous, but keen to investigate further, I arranged to meet her at one of the trade shows she also managed - Computer Graphics at Ally Pally. And weak at the knees for what seemed hours, I waited and waited until I saw this absolutely beautiful vision walking towards me asking for me by name.. and yes, it was the same voice I’d fallen for a week or so earlier.
So to cut a long story short, a couple of weeks after a very successful London Computer Animation Festival, I get a call from her to ask me if I’d like to go to the Cardiff Animation Festival. Yes please… (try holding me back) and a few days later there we were both nervous, heading off down the M4. But the nerves didn’t last long. Sitting besides each other in the theatre and just a few inches apart, up came the first film and …..
There in front of us was a hand drawn animated film of a …… cowboy f*cking a horse.
We looked at each other, both burst out laughing and with tears rolling down her cheeks she swore blind she had no idea. But that was it, the ice was broken - and I just knew we’d be together for ever.
As it happened we both jacked our jobs in and went to work in Sweden and lived on the side of a remote Fjord until our first child was conceived. And a little over 2 year later Nicola and I got married on an Oxford barge in Streatley-on-Thames , with child number 2 on the way. And bless.., we’ve lived happily ever after since.
But that's not to say we've lived without the challenges that can test the strongest of marriages. Surviving the crash of '08 intact was down largely to Nicola, and keeping our heads above the water when Patagonian jr contracted blood cancer in 2012, was again something I couldn't have managed alone. In fact in both cases, and since, in other challenges, Nicola has proven to be the bedrock of the family. Uncomplaining and generally a superstar in every respect.
Now I know I am not alone in feeling the way that I do. Many of us here are much the same age and I reckon lots of you will have similar stories to tell, albeit I challenge you to beat falling in love over the phone.
.
Now why is this? I’d like to think my wife is special, which to me she is of course, but I reckon, once couples get past the 7 year itch, both sides just get closer and closer until there isn't anything between them. Which suggests that love is a function of time, or is it? Can we meet and know that somebody is the right person, the minute we set eyes on them? That wasn’t the case for me, although it was very close. Here’s our story and would love to hear yours too.
I’d spent most of my late teens and twenties working in Africa and Asia. And as you can imagine life was exciting. But I’d never met anybody that made me feel instantly that she was the one. The one meaning she had to look great, be very smart, elegant, charming and of course, stand a good chance of helping me make great kids. Other must haves were no makeup, no high heels, no bad habits and… very fit. Now I know that most of these qualities are subjective, but our gut feel is all we have - unless you want a trophy wife - and if you are driven purely by your emotions it’s difficult to resist that urge when your heart goes nuts and your legs go wobbly. And that’s what happened to me. But not in the way you might think.
It was 1992 and I was product manager at Autodesk. My (software) products included 3D Studio and Animator (which is important to the story) and part of my job was exhibiting at trade events and generally raising the profile every chance I got. Now I’d heard of the London Computer Animation Festival and I had the bright idea of enquiring whether I could sponsor the prizes by giving away copies of 3D Studio. As it happened this turned out to be bit of a coup because the awards for things like best VFX in a Feature Film, were usually won by software programmes costing at least 10 times the £1950 that 3D Studio cost at the time. Anyway, I digress as the point of this was I rang up the Director of the Festival and we chatted on the phone. And my legs went wobbly and my heart went AWOL for the duration of the call. Yep, you’ve got it. I’d fallen for somebody I hadn’t even met and based purely on what she said and how she'd said it.
So feeling very nervous, but keen to investigate further, I arranged to meet her at one of the trade shows she also managed - Computer Graphics at Ally Pally. And weak at the knees for what seemed hours, I waited and waited until I saw this absolutely beautiful vision walking towards me asking for me by name.. and yes, it was the same voice I’d fallen for a week or so earlier.
So to cut a long story short, a couple of weeks after a very successful London Computer Animation Festival, I get a call from her to ask me if I’d like to go to the Cardiff Animation Festival. Yes please… (try holding me back) and a few days later there we were both nervous, heading off down the M4. But the nerves didn’t last long. Sitting besides each other in the theatre and just a few inches apart, up came the first film and …..
There in front of us was a hand drawn animated film of a …… cowboy f*cking a horse.
We looked at each other, both burst out laughing and with tears rolling down her cheeks she swore blind she had no idea. But that was it, the ice was broken - and I just knew we’d be together for ever.
As it happened we both jacked our jobs in and went to work in Sweden and lived on the side of a remote Fjord until our first child was conceived. And a little over 2 year later Nicola and I got married on an Oxford barge in Streatley-on-Thames , with child number 2 on the way. And bless.., we’ve lived happily ever after since.
But that's not to say we've lived without the challenges that can test the strongest of marriages. Surviving the crash of '08 intact was down largely to Nicola, and keeping our heads above the water when Patagonian jr contracted blood cancer in 2012, was again something I couldn't have managed alone. In fact in both cases, and since, in other challenges, Nicola has proven to be the bedrock of the family. Uncomplaining and generally a superstar in every respect.
Now I know I am not alone in feeling the way that I do. Many of us here are much the same age and I reckon lots of you will have similar stories to tell, albeit I challenge you to beat falling in love over the phone.
.