Once about 23 years ago, a young girl, just nearing the end of her teens was dragged to a shabby, run down pub in Lewisham.
"You gotta come out!" Her sister urged. "Come and meet G, you'll like him, and his mates, he's just got back from a trip to Corfu!"
So she allowed herself to dragged to the pub.
"I'll go and get him!" The sister urged and feeling like a fool, she nodded and waited outside.
There was a commotion near the door and out fell the man with the bluest, twinkliest eyes ever and she instantly fell in love.
"L this is G" Her sister made the introduction and this girl started a hesitant conversation with him, finding him easy to talk to and lots of fun.
He invited her to the pictures to see "Porkys" and despite him threatening to walk out on her with her loud and embarrassing laughter, they had another wonderful time.
They dated for a few months, they were very different people, he very laidback and found fun in most situations, her more volatile and ready to fly of the handle over anything, much like the rest of her family.
One day after a furious row in the pub over a silly trival incident she stormed off barefoot and made her way up Blackheath Hill and onto the Heath to walk home and he ran all the way up the hill after her.
One day her parents had to go to court about a custody battle over her cousin, who had been living with them for some time.
She invited him round and cooked her first meal for him, of egg and chips and it was a night of firsts in many more ways than one.
Shortly after this night, the girl found out she was pregnant.
Her family took the news badly, her father refused to speak to her for months, one of her brothers lashed out physically and broke a chair over her back, the man offered to marry her but she refused.
"No! I want to get married because I want to, not because I have too!"
But he wanted to marry her anyway, not just cos both their families said so, but because he loved her just as she loved him.
They set up home together and shortly the woman gave birth to a girl, he redoubled his proposals to her but she kept refusing.
Then one day when the little girl was three months short of her 1st birthday he asked again, in the car park of sainsburys in Woolwich and this time she agreed and the date was set......

To be continued