Matchmakers

No, not those little sticks of chocolate, but the act of introducing two people to each other in the hope that they'll hit it off/fall in love/find their soulmates in each other and make lots of cute babies!

These are two of my favourite people:

Their names are Emma and Ben (and the dog is Lola, in case you were wondering!)

Emma has been my best friend since we were very and extremely small, like this:

Actually, we were even smaller than that as i think we're about fourteen or fifteen in that photo but we actually met when we were 9 years old and i was the new girl at her school and she was put in charge of looking after me (aka, showing me the ropes!) She gave me a little tour of the school, ending with "and these are the stinky toilets- peeeew!" which made me laugh and she's been making me laugh, showing me the ropes and looking after me ever since ;)

Ben has been one of Chris's best friend's since circa 2006, when they were both students, and yes, i am aware Chris is STILL a student (sigh) but he seems determined to remain one forever if possible.  I was referring to when he was a real and proper student, you know, the kind that sleep until 4pm and buy super noodles in bulk and write assignments during the early hours of the morning that it's actually due in.

It would seem that back then Ben was the only one out of all of us who knew when a photograph was being taken and therefore also knew how to avoid looking like a total numpty on it:

Chris and i had mulled over the possibility of the two of them making a good couple on a few occasions, but the universe wouldn't play ball.  Then, in 2008, they were both single, and we were having a summery barbecue party for Chris's birthday and the opportunity to introduce them to each other finally arose.

We were not at all surprised (but were very happy) when they became a couple because we both knew that a. we were right and b. they were awesome together.

And it turns out that we really were right and that they really are awesome together and that Chris and i are shit-hot matchmakers because THEY ARE GETTING MARRIED! :) Wahoo!

They got engaged last week and we are so happy for them.

And like, we actually are really happy for them.  I don't think i've mentioned on this blog Chris's aversion to weddings (also big parties, christenings, funerals too, but i think it's fairly natural to have an aversion to those) or the fact that we are extremely unlikely ever to get married ourselves.  If you know you're not ever getting married, but everyone around you is choosing to, it can sometimes feel a bit like not being allowed to celebrate your own birthday but being invited to everyone else's birthday parties. Actually, that's a totally rubbish analogy and it's not like that at all, i'd guess it's probably more like if you're a couple who have actively chosen not to have children while all your friends have but that's a more difficult concept for me to grasp because i mean, who doesn't love kids right?! ;)   Annnnyway, knowing it won't be "our turn next" can sometimes (sometimes, not always) make it difficult for me to rouse the correct level of enthusiasm for engagements and hen parties and weddings but this time i am SO GODDAM EXCITED!

I expect this is partly because we had a hand in getting them together but more because they are two of my favourite people and i know how happy they make each other and i genuinely can't wait to celebrate that with them.

So there you go, that was the lovely news i have been hinting at.

Congratulations Emma and Ben! Love you both lots xxx