peter
“I used to work on the Dublin Port, 24 hours on and 48 hours off shifts. She used to love that. She loved that we could spend a full day together and on those days we always went on a date somewhere. When she was going shopping, she always brought me with her. She had a driving license and, although she was a good driver, she always told me that she felt safer when I was beside her. I was always happy to keep her company. Our story was a real love story… She got cancer in her early 50s and passed away a little over a year later. We were together for 27 years. After she died, I looked after our children and was a widower for four years. Christmas times were the hardest. When she knew she was dying, she always told me: ‘when I die, you get yourself another lady!’ That was just her personality, you know? One day, just before Christmas, I thought I would give it a try. I knew a lady but only from seeing her around. I heard she became a widow around the same time as me, so I looked her up in the telephone book and I asked her out. She said no, but a couple of hours later she called me and said: ‘OK’. Later, she told me that it was her son who changed her mind. We went on a date; my first date in 31 years. I felt like a child I was so excited. I didn’t know what to do or what to say. I believe she felt the same way, but eventually, we started to talk and ended up having a great time. We have now been married for 22 years. We both know we haven’t got the same love like before and we respect each other’s memories. She is very good to me and I am very good to her too. Sometimes, it feels like I have lived two different lives… and I feel lucky that I could share my life with two wonderful ladies…”