"Together Forever..."

"Together Forever and never to part

Together Forever we two

And don't you know

I would move heaven and earth

To be Together Forever with you"

Aren't they just the loveliest words? Who would have thought that Rick Astley could have been so deep! I know that marriage vows in this country are going the way of the great USA (let's be honest here, this is virtually the 51st State already) with couples now being able to get married wherever they want and being able to write their own 'vows' to each other. Obviously during the marriage ceremony we still have to follow the traditional vows first but couples can now write their own promises to each other and they could do worse than to use the words above.

I remember in 1982 when I married my first wife, taking the vows in a church and saying those words before God had a massive impact on me, so much so that they were probably the reason I stuck around for twelve years instead of cutting and running after four! My own parents divorced before reaching their second anniversary and the aftermath of their decision had such a profound effect on my entire life I always 'promised' myself I would never do that to any children of mine. So did I do the right thing by putting my own needs before those of my son? I don't suppose I will ever really know but I do know that I couldn't be any happier now.

My life with Jo is so special to me. We are going to be celebrating our 15th Anniversary in December and the thought of letting anyone or anything come between us kills me. Our marriage is built on trust and respect for each other but with a really strong foundation of friendship as we have know each other for 25 years and the words to the Rick Astley song would have applied to our friendship alone! I know every couple starts their married life thinking it will be forever and you never know what life can throw at you but I think I can say, with a fair degree of certainty, that Jo and I will see out our days with each other. We truly are Together Forever.

So onto this weeks challenge at I ♥ ProMarkers and Challenge #120 is "For A Little Girl". We are being sponsored by the wonderful Lili Of The Valley and as soon as I saw this stamp on their website it made me think of Jo and I as kids. So my card is from the seven year old me to the seven year old Jo (but in real life she would be 15 as their are eight years between us, but that is just too weird to even contemplate!!). I set out to make a 'different' card this week and I think I have achieved that as it turned out a lot softer than I usually make. I used a really old 12" x 12" paper from my (never to be used for cards) scrap stack and that kind of dictated everything else on the card. The flowers are Prima (of course!) and the die is a Marianne while the doily came in a pack from Joanna Sheen and the buttons and wooden apple have been in my stash for ages. I am really happy with the final effect and I just hope you like the card as much as I do.

See you again soon,

take care,

Andy

x

Entered Into: Paper Crafting Journey Challenge: Colour It Up

A & T Digital Designs Challenge #25 - Buttons

Card A Day Challenge: Birthday/Friendship/Red, White & Blue/Just Because/Teen

Just Keep On Creating Challenge #2 - Anything Goes

ATC's and Cards With Attitude Challenge - Anything Goes/Father's Day

Inspire Me Friday's Challenge #62 - Anything Goes

Craft Your Days Away Challenge #47 - Bingo

Allsorts Challenge #158 - Ice Cream Colours

Craft Your Passion Challenge #114 - Anything Goes

The Ribbon Reel Challenge #30 - Strawberries and Cream