It was fifty years ago today...

 Well to be precise it was 10 July 1971 when I first spoke to the woman that I woke up in bed with this morning.

It still surprises me, every day, that the person in question saw anything in that gauche, naive, long-haired, opinionated youth. 

There will, inevitably, be other 50th anniversaries of landmarks that occurred as the ensuing romance progressed - by current standards at glacial pace (but you ain't going to read about those here!).

I was back home for the summer having completed my second year of biochemistry at Sheffield Uni. My dad suggested I go as an extra 'adult' on the annual Sunday School outing to Scarborough and, uncharacteristically, I agreed. The only person that I knew on the coach was a lad called Paul Buckle, and I only knew him through him helping dad out at church (which I didn't). 

There were, however a couple of nubile Sunday School teachers, not that I had the foggiest idea what to say to chat them up. Fortunately it was a busy day. I agreed to accompany a 10ish-year-old in a rowing boat on the lake in the park. (Embarrassingly she turned out to be much more proficient with the oars than I was.) We supervised a paddle/swim for the kids in the sea. 

That's about all I can remember, apart from clocking that one of the nubiles was a smoker. The other one, 17 years old, I noticed sometimes sat in front of us in church on Sundays and, short skirts being in fashion in 1971, undoubtedly relieved the tedium that was Holy Communion. Also she wanted to talk to me, a unique experience; the rest is history.

Sadly there are no photos from this auspicious occasion. I suppose I should have said thank you to my dad at some point; it isn't every day you find a soulmate!