Just over 21 years ago, I went along on a date to this cafe tucked away in Bristol to meet someone I had emailed online, using a free dating page operated by Venue Magazine. Venue was the “What’s On” of Bristol and sadly shut down a few years later. I had been trying and failing at dating for a month or so – I can be socially awkward around unfamiliar people and being in recovery adds another dimension to dating.
So we arranged to meet for breakfast, which seemed like a safe bet and much less uncomfortable than an evening date. Martina was running late, and I just texted my friend to say I had been stood up when she breezed in. We got chatting and she knew who Calvin and Hobbes were (I had them set as the wallpaper of my Nokia phone) which was a good sign. We got on well and went for a walk with her dog Murphy, who had some jealousy issues, I later found out. We also agreed to meet again so exchanged phone numbers – I had a mental blank spot about her name (always have been terrible with names) so she went in my contacts as Matilda, (something we laughed about subsequently many times).
Anyway, the point of the story is we returned to the cafe today for a “Fully Monty” breakfast, for my 52nd birthday, having been together ever since. We also took our two teenage daughters along, the oldest of whom has just turned 18, the younger one soon to be 17.
It reminded me of the Pulp song “Something Changed“
