once upon a time...

Once upon a time... a boy met a girl... and they fell in love. Don't so many of the loveliest stories start that way? When I look back now at 19 year old me and think about the fact that she was falling for the beginning of the life she always wanted, I want to shake her and say "Absorb every moment of this, this is something very special." Of course 19 year old Lucy, and 21 year old Rich had no real idea what they were getting into. And even when early on they talked about the kids they wanted one day, it wasn't really with the intention of having those children together... although maybe the idea was there in the background.

It often makes me a bit wobbly to look back and think how different life might have been. What if I'd taken up the university place in Chester that I had originally loved? What if I hadn't been out with my friend that night, and ended up sat with Rich while that friend had a big, long and emotional heart-to-heart with ex (who happened to be Rich's house mate)? What if we'd decided to call time on our little romance when he graduated the year before I was due to? What if, what if, what if? It's hard not to believe in fate when you realise how easily all the things you wanted could have not ended up in you life.

But fate decides. Fate puts the right people in your life at the right time. Sometimes fate makes you struggle through 18 months of living at opposite sides, and then opposite ends, of the country.

And I could not be more thankful for fate. For putting Rich in my path, and for everything that came after. And for everything that is still to come...