Mono Monday. Beginning - mm102

First, I must acknowledge the inspiration for my blip today was Yana1, who for this challenge blipped a pic of the first ring she received from her husband.
Mine is the first ring I gave my (now) wife. 
The true beginning is possibly illustrated by the deliberately hazy picture on the left. My wife, Petronela, was renowned for always refusing to dance. How I managed to persuade her I don't know, but I did at a party in 1998 at the Romanian high school where we both taught. Wonderfully, it was recorded in a snap.
A month or two later I was sitting alone in the school hostel, where I lived as a volunteer teacher of English, on 31 December when Petronela, pressed ganged by her younger sister, contacted me and invited me to see in the New Year with the family in the city; 31 December is Petronela's birthday too.
That must have been the beginning, and various traditions were established. One was watching the New Year concert from Vienna, which we have done together every year since,
The ring came a little later, a simple low-cost silver ring with a blue stone which has become treasured.
A long tortuous journey through a part of our lives followed until two years later I was showing off carrying her into the wedding reception. I'm pleased that this was recorded too and the photo is always on display in our home, maybe a future blip theme will lead me to bring this into focus.
PS. Thank you to osuzanna for hosting MM and this inspirational theme.