Mariacristina posts: Our life, upside down… NOT

Some of you might think that since we got the news on George’s relapse our life has changed dramatically. I assume so, at least. However, as my former manager Laura used to say: by assuming you make an ass of you and me, so maybe I’ll refrain.

Either way, what I would like to explain is that our life is exactly as it used to be. The setting might have changed slightly but the core is the same.

The amount of time we spend together: I run out of the office every night as I can’t wait to spend the evening with George, in the same way I used to before the diagnosis. The difference being that I go to St George’s instead of home. Weekends are slightly different, but the principle is that we relax together, watch our favourite series, scoff crisps, listen to music and chat about the craziest and silliest things ever.

As usual, when I’m back from work, George deals with my complaints about being stressed at work, having too much to do, being tired and all that. Nothing new on this side.

Those mood swings: yes they still happen and George is there with his unbelievable patience and understanding, ready to listen to my rants and then calm me down.

Most importantly, regardless of his being stuck in hospital, George always finds a way to comfort me and put a smile (even if it’s just a shy one) on my face when I feel down or grumpy. He has this power to make me burst into laughter no matter how tough my day was.

Another thing that hasn’t changed is the fact that we are facing a challenge – it is only one of many we would face anyway. If you know us well you might have a vague idea of what we have been through to be together. We always faced a challenge and with our love we managed to get through all sorts of obstacles.

Two years in a long-distance relationship, with a Neapolitan girl? Ouch – that is a tough one, but George being George and me being me, we managed to survive it. I always knew that we would be together. Let’s say that it took some sort of hardcore persuasion to bring George to the same level of awareness. Methods used for that purpose are not going to be disclosed on this occasion.

Ah… I shall not forget the subtle and not so subtle resistance of those who didn’t think that our relationship was such a good idea. We carried on because we believed in us, and thank God we found the strength to do so at the time.

Those romantic happy days back in 2009 when I moved to London to be with George and start a promising career in the international development sector? Ah – those days of unemployment were a good laugh, but George supported both of us.  It was hard, but we did it because at the end of the day the only thing we wanted was to be together, and regardless of what we were doing, we were happy.

The day I got my first official job at Viagogo: the beginning of a nightmare that lasted nine months – there were days when George would open the front door and welcome me with a massive glass of G&T. Even better were those days when he could hear the desperation in my voice and would walk to the station to meet me there with my favourite steaming mug of camomile tea. It was either love or just fear of facing the beast…?!?

I could go on and on and tell you all the big and small challenges we had over the last seven years, but I feel that it is enough to explain that this is once again another challenge – a bigger and scarier one, but we are as hard as marble and we will keep enjoying our life together, each day we have together. After all, as someone said: ‘Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but about dancing in the rain.’ And we have some pretty damn good dance moves.