This is told about faith.
Meeting Jake marked the end of a small period in my life. In the last six months I have lost my job, my partner and the dream of living in Australia. Then, picking up negative vibes, sure enough my car exploded. Going on holiday to Italy at my parents’ place, I was inclined to lament some sort of lonely life now. Writing these words today, I realize how ridiculous that sounds when I was only 28!
But my long-term partner recently left for another woman. Together we obtained Australian residency and I resigned my position at the BBC to fulfill a dream that now lay in ruins. In the meantime, I’d like to apply for a television reporter job in Yorkshire, thinking I’d never hear back. I was called for an interview – and I ran into a trip to Italy. I wasn’t even going to bother going, but my mother had a group job, so she paid for the flight. It took the Yorkshire area long enough to hire someone to make two positions available – a discussion about fate. Jake got another job.
When we emerged as a couple, the local newspaper reported that “our eyes met through frequent news” – but the first movements happened on the day of induction for the new staff. Jake was sitting in the middle of the theater studio when I walked in. With my eyes closed and the girl in front of me, I walked straight and sat next to him. The gossip and laughter began immediately and did not stop for 32 years.
A few weeks into the series came the moment that I realized Jake was the one. My ex-boyfriend – yes, the one I was planning to move to Australia with – asked me to stay overnight on his way to work. Jake glanced at the phone to tell me, but it turns out he needn’t have been nervous. What shall I answer? “It’s nice that you’ll be able to speak really well.”
My heart rejoiced. I thought, “Wow, do you really believe me that much?”
I remember the feeling that I saw, heard and tasted.
He proposed to me for the first time about four months ago. We were under the lamppost at Armley, a part of Leeds long on the north coast, but – even its biggest supporters will admit – short on atmospheric charm.
My answer was: “Please postpone that question until we are in a more romantic place.”
A few months later, I booked her flight to Australia to visit all my friends here. After we stood in the moonlight east of Sydney, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, I said, “Do you want to ask me again?” They both knew the answer would be, but it felt more memorable in the new place. Especially since we were sent to Australia to make it home, or at least try to.
We were moved and later together to cultivate the development of Peace Journalism, co-authoring the book of the same name. We used to joke that we gave birth to so many projects, then I finally had a son at 40. It was a book of daily peace that developed into Jake’s job at the university. For many years Jake and I taught together at the University of Sydney, one student saying in feedback: “Jake and Annabel are like two halves of the same brain.”
It is more than my soul, my colleague and friends. In 32 years of marriage, Jake has never betrayed the trust he placed in me.
Say now you knew
Do you have a romantic realization you would like to share? From quiet domestic scenes to dramatic revelations, The Australian Guardian wants to hear about the moment you knew you loved yourself.