Ten years ago.

1990

1999

2001

Ten years ago, I was twenty two. (22!)  I was living with Captain Awesome and CVS in a lovely apartment, in South Africa, which was in turmoil  (the apartment not South Africa) as we packed up our lives. We were about to see Captain Awesome graduate, get married and emigrate in the space of TEN days. (Oh the recklessness of youth!) 

A decade on:

Ten years, four countries, one child.

You might say we have had adventures,
the two of us, mostly self led, no tour guides for us.

Some were of the "write-home-to-mom" variety,

some more suited as the fodder of self-help books. 

We threw ourselves in the deep end,

without a thought to what could be lurking there,

trusting always, in the karma that had been on our side, 

for as long as we were together, we were stronger than the tides.

They started out set to music and moonlight, 

Some were set to raised voices, others raised glasses
Pub crawls, gigs, dinner with your family
tears and laughter.

There were those we shared, happily,

with dear friends and family, 

Others were by invitation only -

and even those were gate-crashed by good intentions.

A very few were solo expeditions, 

battles to be fought and won alone.

Some of the battles nearly broke us

but we came out the other side bruised but intact.

Within these ten years, past, we spent time in four countries.
Made our forever home in one, for now.
Created a life, our beautiful son,
and gave ourselves an awareness of how life should be lived.

I know that the decade ahead will bring more ups,

some downs and more adventures.

I know that together we will go to the edge

hold hands and step into the deep blue again.

Happy 10th Anniversary.

Fast forward to today. I am living with Captain Awesome (his name changed remember?) and Monkey in a lovely apartment which is in turmoil as we pack up our lives to move back to NZ... Life  certainly is poetic.