Now that we’re retired I’m home all day with my wife. We’ve been married 20 years and it’s fair to say that we have little in common. I’m a culture vulture, she is not. I love sport, she does not. She likes reality TV, fashion and popular culture, I do not. We have different personalities too. She is quiet and reserved, I am more outspoken and gregarious. It is very unlikely that the dating algorithms would match us. Fred and Merlin would not be welcoming us at the First Dates restaurant. We are opposites. And yet, we blend so well together. We never argue, never fall out, never sulk, or storm off to sleep in the spare room. We give each other the space to be who we want to be, without criticism. I don’t like the stuff she does, but I just go into the other room and do something else. We are patient with each other and accepting of who each other are. If we don’t like something, we talk quietly and calmly about it. It’s not made into a drama. We are so at one with each other it’s scary. Often, we think the same things at the same time. I’ve lost count of the times we’ve said ‘Eeh I was just thinking that!’ 

I count myself so lucky to have her in my life. She is my rock. I am her rock. We are like two rocks sitting side by side.