In Sickness & In Health

A guest blog post from my husband Jamie (aka Jay).

Jay has been saying that he would write a guest piece for around a year. Well I have finally pinned him down. The first time I read it was when he handed it to me ready to be typed up onto my blog. I won’t lie some of it moved me to tears. He is a typical bloke who quite often doesn’t say what he’s thinking or what’s worrying him. I know he loves me that much is clear but I am so proud of him for writing this piece and introducing himself to my readers. So here it is…..

Hi,

I’m Jamie. I am 43 years old and I am married to Rachel. You may be a frequent visitor to her blog and while you are all probably well aware of our dogs (as understandably so) they get more blog time than me, you may not know much about me.

I met Rachel in 1997, whilst we were both attending a management training course. I knew from the minute I met her she was going to play a massive and pivotal role in my life. We were engaged around one month after we met and I moved in with her the following year.

We were married in 2000 in Sri Lanka. An incredible setting for such an important moment in our lives. We eloped and our trip to Sri Lanka was not only our Wedding destination but the first time we had been abroad on holiday together.

Three years later we purchased our now home and lived happily ever after…….

The End.

Well not quite. You see regardless of what happened then to her health, nothing changed for me. She is still the same incredible person.

A lot of people told me to “walk away” or told me “this isn’t what you signed up for”. However what I signed up for, was to spend the rest of my life with my lover and best friend. And that is what I am doing.

Others have said to me “oh being a carer and working full-time must be so exhausting”. My answer is “No it’s not. She is there when I wake up and there when I return home from work.” During all the visits to the doctors / consultants, guess what? We are together and we talk for hours. In fact it doesn’t matter how bad things get, she’s always talking! We rarely even listen to music in the car because every journey is filled by the sound of us laughing and chatting. So don’t feel bad for me. I have the best life there is, spending so much time with my amazing wife.

Yes there are up’s and downs. Occasionally I get very stressed out because she is so unwell. Sometimes I need to take emergency time off work to look after Rachel and I have to say work have been fantastic in supporting me and looking out for my mental health.

Rachel has supported me selflessly over the years. She has supported me as I have grown as a person and as a husband. She has always been there for me, as I have been there for her.

Yes I make mistakes, I leave the toilet seat up, smear shaving phone on the mirror, leave blue hair gel in the bathroom sink and I undercooked a pizza once. I also promised to write this blog post last week when I was on holiday from work but instead found myself overtaken by the other love of my life my PS4.

Through all the bumps on the road of life, we know and understand each other better everyday. In February we celebrated 20 years together as a couple, this September we will have been married 17 years.

So that’s about it, short and sweet I know but not a downbeat, oh woe is me post. I couldn’t be happier. I do hope you’ve enjoyed my blog post and that you will continue to support my wife’s blog.

As I said in 2000, In sickness & in Health.