Forever Jung: Crypt to Common to Coaley Peak

CleanSteve and I met in May 1992 in the crypt of St James' Picadilly, which is a healing centre and restaurant. We were both attending a course in Jungian dreamwork run by Maggie Peters, of Stroud, During the break, he wandered over and offered to do my astrological chart...

We both lived in London, but not for long, as later that year I moved to Zlin, Czech Republic, and on my return, to Stroud, Glos, to carry on the dreamwork training. In 1997-1999, I edited Maggie's book on dreamwork (Dreamwork, by Maggie Peters, Gaia Books, 2001). Steve never visited me in the Bat'a shoe-manufacturing town in South Moravia (can't think why not!) but our letters linked us like invisible shoelaces on my Doc Martens. We still have the letters, but hardly any photos of both of us, as we didn't move in together until 2003!

Fortunately, my sister TML has always had her camera at the ready, so she took these shots on the left: the one with us in loud formal clothing was taken at my brother R's wedding in 2002, in Oban. The dressing-gown shot dates back to 2004/5 when we enjoyed the company of an enormous, lazy cat called Wiggy. He slept in various cupboard most of the time, and left a thin veil of white hair wherever he'd been. Wigs wasn't half as much fun as Bomble, but five times less annoying! Once he ran up a ladder and then forgot how to get down. He had a vicious streak, so I couldn't lift him: just had to stand there and watch until he figured it out.

The picnic shot on the right was taken at my 50th birthday party on Minchinhampton Common last year. I had the party near the summer solstice on 22nd June, because February has never been popular for picnicking in the UK! My friend Kitty took the picture on her phone. I like it because we look so relaxed, and summer clothing is such fun to wear.

We aren't married, so this was a version of one of our big days, and it went swimmingly. Another moment was CleanSteve's 60th in 2009. We were down the by the Severn, picnicking and waiting for the Severn Bore. The same friends Bob and Mary, and Pip and Mary, were with us on both occasions. Bob and Mary married recently, both in their 60s. Sadly, Pip and Mary and Steve and I tend to go to the same funerals these days. The next round of birthdays will be Mary's 60th, later this year, then Steve and Pip's and Bob's 70th birthdays in a few years' time.

UPDATE: I realised later that we are supposed to include an image of how we are today, so we jumped into the car and rushed to Coaley Peak viewpoint, overlooking the Severn Vale, the Severn (river) and South Wales. We collared a stranger with a good looking camera (on the grounds that he might know something about photography) and Steve set up the shot for him. Thanks, Mr Er.... We've now got images from four seasons: from top left: spring 2002, summer 2014, winter 2015, and autumn 2004.

Blipfoto has asked us to name the thing we now know, that we wish we'd known then! For me, it's about enjoying every moment. Because of the age difference between us (14.5 years) we may not enjoy a long and happy retirement together, as my State Pension age has crept up to 67! So we have to make time to do the fun things now, no matter how broke or knackered we feel.

I am working pretty much full time now, and Steve's volunteering on a hundred different projects, but every second of sunshine counts. Blipfoto has definitely given us a common interest: Steve started blipping in 2010, and I came on board on a whim in 2012, and now we enjoy blipwalking and 'catching the bright moments' most weekends and holidays. I'll still always be a better writer than photographer, and for Steve the opposite is true, so we complement each other.