The last seven days have been something of a week of discovery. Firstly after years of wondering as to the source of the mysterious curse that has long been placed over Dom and I, the curse which has plagued our relationship with a series of unfortunate, occasionally catastrophic and often downright bizarre occurrences, this week it appears that we have our answer.
All became clear when, after ambitiously planning a night out at the theatre to see an Ayckbourn show starring our very own fabulous Bride Vs Groom cartoonist (and actress extraordinaire) Emily Pithon (along with many other members of cast I had worked with before and wanted to support), the curse struck once more. Mere hours before we were due to take our seats I was called out to film mass at a nearby church to celebrate a beloved local figure’s 60th anniversary in the priesthood.
It was a lovely event but one that despite theoretically finishing with half an hour to spare before the show perhaps inevitably ran well into Act I after the Bishop of all people was late for Mass. After somehow successfully parking what felt like 50miles away, legging it to the theatre and just making it in time for a run-down of the plot before watching act II, we were greeted at the end of the performance by the most almighty storm. As the roads began to flood in almost biblical proportions it was suddenly quite clear: God himself has been smiting us all these years… Apparently he must have been bored or something…
Meanwhile the in-laws have this week been packing up their possessions ready to move house to pastures new from the home where they have lived pretty much since Dom went off to university. Although most of Dom and I’s possessions reside in our own house it’s amazing how many things you can end up leaving behind with your parents when you move out. This presented a valuable opportunity to clear out all the clutter and reclaim only those missing items thought to be permanently lost that inevitably find their way into drawers or onto dusty shelves long forgotten.
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An artists impression of our future house based on the current rate of property disposal…
Out of the attic came box after box of Dom’s stuff, from childhood toys to college and University projects and as she went through each one in turn a couple of things became apparent: firstly that I was going to have to board out the loft properly at our house since nothing was going in the rubbish bin, and secondly that even after being together almost a decade it’s amazing the stuff you don’t know about your partner.
There were projects in there that I had never seen from Dom’s old fine art photography projects – photographs that revealed just how artistically minded and creative she really is. Don’t get me wrong, I see this constantly on display in her wedding and portrait photography but this was a different style of work – the type of project that is ingenious in its inception and reveals at times an altogether darker creative force at work. Amongst the collection we also came across a highly significant piece of work in the lives of Dom and her brother – the first piece of work they ever collaborated on together and one that helped create the spark that led to a more permanent creative partnership and the birth of York Place Studios. It contained original emails from their first conversations about a collaboration, and who knows what path our lives may all have taken had that project never existed.
It was really a treasure trove of memories, and as pictures, childhood possessions and documents each was discovered in turn I learnt a lot about the person my wife was long before we met and the the things that helped her to become the person she is now. Most importantly though I learnt firstly that Dom’s parents are selling a house with some sort of built in Tardis and secondly, unless we can find a house with a similar device to bend the rules of physics, that by the time we’re old and grey we’re going to need to have bought some sort of warehouse to accommodate all of our stuff. From this display apparently Dom has never bought or made anything in her entire life that doesn’t have some form of sentimental value. God help us (assuming he’s in a better mood with us by then) when we have kids and their bits and pieces to store too.
At the end of the day though I wouldn’t want her to get rid of anything of genuine meaning. Moving on doesn’t mean we have to forget the past or the things that got us to where we are today, it’s an opportunity for a new chapter to begin and new memories to be forged. More importantly though it’s an opportunity for small dog to claim even more territory for his growing empire. At this rate, according to canine rules of marked territory he could become the greatest emperor since Julius Caesar… I only hope that doesn’t give him the power to choose any citizen he wishes as his wife…
