I was going through my pile of vintage and antique walking sticks and canes and umbrella’s yesterday and I came across a black umbrella that had “Damian & Esther” printed on it and a date in August 2005 somewhere in Richmond. Clearly this was an umbrella printed to mark their wedding day, should it rain, for the guests. I hope they didn’t need to use it, I hope the sun shone, and I hope it continued to shine on their marriage and 18 years later, it’s still going strong! How though, an umbrella created in Richmond, Surrey for a specific wedding, ended up in Cheshire, will forever remain a mystery!
Marriage – it’s a funny old thing. You get dolled up and hope for good weather and plenty of guests, not once do you think of what comes after – the forever bit! Once you are a wife or a husband, how it changes your relationship, the gravity of it all. And then children enter into some marriages and it takes a new direction, hopefully one that’s joyful still. But not all marriages are made in heaven, some are secretly started in hell. You skip that aisle, unaware of who you are actually betrothing yourself too, your wedding band becomes a shackle. And by the end, when you escape, barely recognising that innocent thing, you started this journey as, you find yourself running for the exit at full pelt, at best – or at worst, crawling. So Damian and Esther, you’re both out there somewhere .,. I hope your marriage is one of the good ones, that you’ve created a loving union, with maybe a child or two, maybe not? But I hope one of you hasn’t bolted for the door, feeling less than they once were. I’ve been there. It’s not a good place to be 連