Our Story

The Time Before

When sitting down to write ‘Our Story’, in true English teacher fashion, I couldn’t help but be reminded of a particular poem. Andrew Marvell’s ‘The Definition of Love’ presents a pair of lovers who move through the world as parallel lines, kept apart by fate, destined never to meet, moving through the world separately, unaware of their perfect love.

For a while, this was our story. Our parallel lines seemed worlds apart…

2011

Bob was backpacking around Europe.
I was teaching English in Bolton.

2013

Bob was living with artists in Mexico City.
I was teaching English in Bolton.

2014

Bob was teaching English in Bogotá.
I was teaching English in Bolton.

2015

Bob started teaching in a new school in Diyarbakır.
I started teaching in a new school in Rossendale.

2016

Bob was managing an English school in Siracusa.
I was teaching English in Rossendale.

2018

Bob returned home to Poynton.
I was teaching English in…Bolton.

The lines moved slightly closer.

2021

Post-Covid, we came across each other's profiles on a dating app called Bumble. For those who have had experience of online dating, you’ll know what a maze of dead ends it can be; what seems like infinite possibilities often fades into the disappointment of banal conversations and suspect intentions, all while trying to hold on to the vague hope of finding 'The One'.

And yet, on 31st October 2021, the universe tilted our lines towards one another. This is where our love story begins.

The First Date

On our first date, we went for cocktails at The Fitzgerald in Manchester. We managed to dodge the Halloween revellers (although Bob was sporting a Michael Myers shirt hidden under a nice jumper) and enjoyed a few quiet drinks together.

Somewhat jaded by the online dating experience, it felt refreshing to be able to have an engaging conversation, with an absence of awkward pauses and a welcome lack of suspicion over what this person really wanted. It just felt right: like this time, the person behind the usual unreal profiles was, in fact, real and sincere. It may have been Halloween, but I knew this was no ghost.

A few dates later...Bob charmed my cats and we were officially 'going steady' (to use a Bobism).

Our cats today, Nye and Callie.

Over the next few months and years, I’d regularly make the drive to Bob’s flat in Handforth and Bob spent plenty of time on trains to Rochdale as well. The decision to move in together was the easiest next step. Bob sold his flat, I exchanged my walk-in wardrobe (also known as the small bedroom) for an office, and from April 2024, we were officially living together.

We’d discussed marriage a year or so into the relationship, even though by the year 2023 Bob’s mantra of ‘not this year’ in relation to a potential proposal was still holding strong. In 2024, I was hopeful that perhaps the proposal would be soon, but after much misdirection (a classic Bob calling card) I was taken completely by surprise when it did arrive.

The Proposal

Each year, Bob and I try to organise a ‘birthday surprise’ for each other. In 2024, I thought my surprise for Bob was unbeatable: walking alpacas at a local farm and an alpaca-wool replica poncho of Clint Eastwood’s character from Bob’s beloved ‘Dollars Trilogy’.

Little did I know that Bob had grander plans afoot.

The day before my birthday, I arrived home from work, excited to celebrate my birthday weekend but a little tired. Bob greeted me with ‘Let’s go for a walk!’

I was less than enthused initially, but he assured me that there were birthday surprises involved, so off we went.

If you walk straight up the road from our house, and keep climbing up the steep hills, you’ll eventually reach a path with a view of the whole of my home village, Norden, and Manchester in front of you, and even the hills beyond the opposite side of the city, which is where Bob grew up. There’s a spot where the wall has tumbled down, leaving a flat stone wide enough for two. It’s always been a special spot for us and Bob has a similar spot he’d taken me to near his childhood home on the other side of Manchester. We had previously sat there imagining together how many times we’d been on our respective sides of the city looking out and, not realising our destiny was looking back.

Sitting there, Bob presented me with a birthday card and a gift. The gift? A Batman action figure. Cue a very confused face.

Bob prompted me with "where does Batman live?"

And the penny dropped… Gotham. A weekend stay at Hotel Gotham in Manchester? A 10/10 birthday surprise given I’d mentioned offhand wanting to spend a night there several times.

This was all a ruse, another example of that earlier mentioned penchant Bob has for loving misdirection.

He then handed me some handwritten signs. Think the scene in Love Actually, a film Bob has never watched and still refuses to do so. More accurately for him, maybe think of the video to Bob Dylan’s ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’. These signs were a beautifully romantic distraction tactic, as whilst I was reading them, Bob was preparing his final surprise. The last sign referenced a lyric from my favourite Taylor Swift song ‘Paper Rings’: ‘Now I know you like shiny things, but first say yes to paper rings.’

At this point, I looked up to see Bob down on one knee in front of me, with an antique wooden trinket box shaped like a book that was filled with origami paper rings.

Yes, we recreated the proposal with the diamond ring.

It was without a doubt the most romantic thing that’s ever happened to me and the fastest, easiest ‘yes’ in the world.

In that moment everything aligned and our once parallel lines felt like they had become one.

Bob sadly may not be a Swiftie, but he had been planning this for months and had taught himself origami to make the rings to honour my favourite song. In his words: “you deserve a Laura proposal."

I’d told Bob in previous conversations I had no idea what ring design I’d want and so would prefer to have a say in the process. So the following day on my birthday, after saying yes to paper rings, we went ring shopping and he bought me the best birthday present I will ever have, my ‘shiny thing’.

Since then...

It’s been nearly two years of saving, wedding planning and excitement. We can’t believe that it’s now only a matter of months away. We’re so excited to share our day with you as our ‘parallel lines’ become eternally entwined.

See you soon - I'll be the one in the white dress! 👰🏻

The Future Mrs. Hodges

xxx