31 Days of Blogging - Day 23

Day 23 – Depeche Mode – Home



I’ve just re-read the last few days’ posts and have decided that I have had enough of talking about the demise of my marriage. It is time to be positive, something which fits nicely into the way I approach life these days.

I had written another depressing post for today – but now I think it is enough. So I’ve scrapped the original post and hastily rewritten it.

The break-up of my marriage to W is not something that I really want to revisit – and I’m sure that W doesn’t either.

So I will leave it at that in the interests of harmony and positivity. Suffice it to say that W and I are actually friendly to each other now. There may be bitterness on both sides but we largely push that aside these days and are civil to each other – even joking about our life together sometimes, making both of our lads cringe with embarrassment.

As I said – enough about all of that; instead – let me tell you about Home.

The song reminds me of the time when I changed my opinion of Hong Kong. When I first went there, as I’ve said, work was tough, but later when I had a chance to stay in the centre of the city instead of the New Territories, the city became something else.

It was a vibrant exciting place and I loved it.

I bought the Depeche Mode album Ultra in Hong Kong – Home is on the album. I loved Depeche Mode way back in the 80’s but they improved dramatically later on. I was in HMV in Tsim Sha Tsui listening to the album on headphones (having not heard it at all) and instantly loved it.

Home is the best track on the album, though slightly melancholy, I find it uplifting.

I sometimes like a dark edge to my music – perhaps regular readers have guessed that.

Anyway, I guess it’s time to tell you about Mrs PM.

We used to work together. She joined my company from university having just completed her degree, also at Liverpool University. She studied French and IT and has spent a year of her course living in Toulouse.

She had worked in a bank and had decided that she wanted something more – so she left to become a mature student and loved travel, which led her to join my company because of the opportunities it provided.

What I didn’t know was that she took quite a shine to me. Do you recall me telling you how useless I was with women?

Well it was the same with Mrs PM – history repeated itself again.

Fate stepped in and we had to go to Hong Kong together for a site trip. After a week working together, we went out for yet another meal and had a great laugh together. And then she shocked me.

As we walked back to the hotel, she told me in no uncertain terms how she felt about me. Her exact words were:

"Do you want some romance?"

See a pattern?

And again I succumbed. I really liked her even though there is eight years age difference. She was 28 and I couldn’t see what on earth she saw in a crotchety old git like me.

And I haven’t looked back since.

As you can imagine, all of this caused quite a stir and times were hard during the first period of our relationship – almost all of it was my fault I hasten to add, as I was going through a rough time.

Nevertheless, we bonded because there was something different about her.

We were on the same wavelength; our background was the same and we wanted the same things in life.

And we still are on the same wavelength almost fourteen years further on.

Crikey – I feel old.

But I am happy and that’s thanks mainly to Mrs PM, who stayed with me through those turbulent first months.

I must have been a right royal pain in the arse. She clearly saw something there and rode that storm. She saw me at my worst – warts and all.

And she stayed.

And thank God she did.

She has embraced my two boys and loves them as if they were her own.

She really is a special woman – and I am very lucky to have her.