It was 29 August and my boyfriend had suggested we go shopping. I didn’t hesitate and got him into the car before he could change his mind. We arrived at the Trafford Centre with just two hours left to shop and then I had the added task of driving us and our purchases back down to London. I knew it was too good to be true when, after the first shop, Mark suggested we separate and meet back at the car in an hour and a half! I agreed and knew that his first stop would be the huge screen at the end of the centre showing the grand prix – and he says shopping’s boring!!!!!!! I arrived back at the car at the requested time and waited…and waited…and waited!!! I was getting more and more hacked off when Mark appeared, smiling, with a scrunched-up newspaper and a pain au chocolat. He said he’d had a wonderful time just browsing and had forgotten the time. I started on our battle towards the motorway and as I hit the traffic jams, Mark hit the land of nod and there he stayed until we got back to Putney. I was not happy!!! The following day dawned bright and glorious and, as keen parachutists, we decided to head down to Kent to get a couple of jumps in. I was still not in the best of moods and was quite tired from the long journey the previous day. We managed to get two jumps in, but on my last jump, I landed on my bottom which resulted in a broken coccyx, not to mention dented pride. When I arrived home that night, I needed some TLC, but all I got was Mark reprimanding me and going through my training again. Back to work the next day, I was in a lot of pain, but happy (perhaps it was the pills from the hospital!). I decided to make my boyfriend his favourite meal – a roast beef dinner. The scene was set, as was the table, but when Mark came in from work, he said that he preferred to eat from a tray in front of the telly. As he munched his way through his second Yorkshire pud, he said “Mags, can I ask you something?” I nodded and waited for him to respond. He stood up and took a tissue out of his pocket and producing a beautiful platinum and diamond ring, dropped down on one knee and said, “Please make me the happiest man on earth by becoming my wife.” I obviously said yes and we are now trying to qualify for freefall so that we can both drop in to our reception on the 4 August 2001.
