This photo will keep me going while I’m away this week.

It’s David, my love, as all regular visitors to these pages will know. He’s been very kindly posing with his hands and feet for me over the last couple of days so this time I thought I’d do a real portrait.

I’m incredibly lucky to be with him….but then it’d probably be right to say the reverse is true too.

Whatever. I just know that somehow we keep each other moving on. Even yesterday evening, when we were on the train on our way out to dinner with some friends we were discussing my photo that had been shot earlier in the evening and David said ‘you keep striving to get photos that don’t exist’. It’s true to say I keep pushing my own photography because otherwise he’d have left me behind years ago. He too would argue that having me snapping at his heels has made him continue to strive to do better.

We are constantly changing yet we keep shifting closer together somehow. Since the start of our relationship, I’ve been aware of a number of phases……at the start we were both very wary, David had been badly hurt by his ex so was playing things very casually and I was deeply afraid of rejection so wouldn’t ever push anything with him. It was one of my friends (Susie) who, on meeting him for the first time, said to me later ‘you do know he adores you don’t you’. I’d never seen it.

A few weeks later, I saw it demonstrated clearly when I electrocuted myself (doh) while doing some wiring at his house and the look on his face said it all.

Later still, we went through some bad times – the interminable wait for a buyer for his house, while he was setting up in his own business and I was struggling to support us both. It felt as though we were just about to drown for much of that time but despite being so near to drowning, we clung together rather than lashed out against one another. It’s funny how the sale of his house opened up such a wonderful future for us and gave us the wherewithal to buy our precious house in Cornwall.

Another major incident in our lives together caused some deeply disturbing, major ripples and we had to evaluate what we really wanted both from one another and from our friends. Again, we came through the challenge appreciating one another more and knowing what needed to be done.

I don’t think though, that at any stage either of us would have given up what we’d got just because the going got a bit tough for a while.

Since then, we’ve been looking ahead. We’re strong, we’re happy and we’re got trust, affection and love so life is sweet.

This time last year I also posted a photo of David as my PotD, celebrating his 509th consecutive day without a miss, now 874 days without a break. Two years ago, we were out with Ann and Dave - old friends.