Wednesday, March 01, 2006

More about me...

In my youth, I had a succession of girl-friends; some serious, some not. I think the longest relationship I had before marriage was one of just over six months. I was moving about a lot in those days and in my late teens and early twenties, I was either at University or in the army. This didn’t give me much of a chance to consolidate a relationship and so I never had an in-depth bond with any of them. I got married at 23 to my dancing partner and settled down to raise a family. Three children in just over four years kept both of us busy looking after them with little chance of a social life. Later, as they grew up, I had a job that took me away for days at a time and I once worked in Germany for a couple of years, only returning home at holiday times. While the salary was good, it did keep me away from home quite a lot but my wife and family were used to my long absences. I must confess here that during my time abroad, there were one or two discreet affairs. They were nothing serious; it was part of the job being away from home!
I returned home in the early part of 1969 and secured a very good position in a nearby town. Once again, I would have to travel around a bit as the company I was working for had several smaller production units scattered about the country.
1970 saw me in a more senior position and my activities were centred mostly around three or four locations from my office. For the first time in years, I was spending more time at home with my family and I rather think we fell into a rut. Not that I didn’t love my wife, I did. However, when I first met Iris in the winter of 1972/3 I realised there was an enormous difference. While I loved my wife, I was in love with Iris and there was a whole wealth of difference there. At 38, I was like a teen-ager again with his first love. I soon discovered it was more than a casual fling; it was a wonderful close relationship that lasted eight years.
Critics may say that I neglected my family; not so. I had never been a pipe and slippers man even before I met Iris so my home life was not really affected so much by our relationship.
I make no excuses for my philandering; it was just the way it happened. I could resist anything but temptation! Then again, after meeting Iris, I never even once dreamt of having an affair with anyone else. That continued for several years even after she had died; nobody else was ever half as appealing.

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