The ‘new and normal’ method for meeting prospective partners is done through the use of social media and online dating sites (that isn’t to say ALL young couples meet this way!). Both of us had tried and tested this method and found it to be a difficult, uneasy and an often disappointing experience. For individual reasons, we had both pretty much given up on the idea of meeting someone and had stopped looking.
This is when by chance, Debbie started working for the same firm as Chris in September 2015, albeit in separate offices and cities. Chris visited Debbie’s office on regular occasions as part of his role and soon struck up a friendship. Regular jokey emails and phone conversations at the firm bought us closer and closer together.
Debbie had been planning a sabbatical for some time and preempting her need for fitness (she would be trekking the Inca Trail in Peru amongst others!) asked Chris at the beginning of 2017, having seen his dramatic weight loss, for a few pointers. This resulted in several hikes and walks which formed the basis for many conversations, lunches and drinks.
The two of us became increasingly closer as the months went on and soon appeared to become inseparable. Despite what friends and family thought, this continued to remain platonic as both of us constantly reminded everyone that ‘We were just friends.’
Walks and hikes turned in to random days of shopping, cinema trips to watch Anime, evenings out with Debbie’s friends, babysitting for family members, a weekend away in Woolacombe with friends, watching sunsets and sunrises and joint wedding present gift making (we made a coffee table for close friends).
In amongst all of this, somewhere, somehow, it ‘just happened’ and a rather lengthy and somewhat strained conversation over Facebook Messenger took place in August 2017. Shortly after a friends wedding (and a trip to Brighton), Chris finally ‘let the cat out of the bag’ and we began dating on the 7th August 2017 (although neither Chris nor Debbie have ever ‘officially’ asked the other out!).
However the story doesn’t end there! Debbie still had her planned sabbatical which would see her leave the UK to visit South America, Australia and New Zealand for 4 months at the beginning of September 2017. This gave us just under a month as a new couple. Chris decided this was not good enough and took it upon himself to fly out to Australia to join Debbie for the last part of her trip in December 2017.
Here we are, in January 2018, starting this website together to collect, share and preserve our memories and time together in the hopes that in years to come, we can look back on this story we call ‘Life’ and recollect some of our best (and not so best) moments! This is Our Journey.
Chris and Debbie