A decade ago I was separated, waiting for my divorce to come through, and to be perfectly honest… I didn’t have a direction in my life. I wasn’t happy, although I pretended a lot that I was, and I certainly was no good for anyone else.

I haven’t gone back to check, at least not recently, but my posts from that time period on this blog more often than not reflected my frame of mind. I was in a bad way: I was depressed without the official diagnosis. I don’t say that in an effort to be cool or to grab some belated sympathy, only to in some way show where I was and how far I have come since then.

Everything changed in 2017 when I met the woman who – as of last Tuesday – became my wife. She is good to me but more importantly, she is good for me, in a whole manner of ways that are impossible to lay out for you. Suffice to say I tried to tell her and all those in attendance with my overlong 1200 word speech after the ceremony, but some feelings go beyond words, even for someone who is comfortable writing them down, like I am.

I hope that as we move forward I can prove to her that the vows we exchanged last week were more than just a formality, or the signing of a piece of paper, and that they are something we can build upon in the months and years to come.