Twenty years ago today, I went on a first date with a young lady called Bas, who'd come to one of my events two weeks earlier to ask me if I'd contribute a short story to a forthcoming anthology book called Kids' Night In. I said I wouldn't be able to give her a story, but I'd write something fun for her, like a fake recipe for bat broth. In following this up, we got chatting by email, which resulted in us going for a meal together on February 21st, 2002.

Today, February 21st 2022, we're going on a date again, but this time as husband and wife. Yes, dear reader, the budding editor ensnared her author -- AND she got me to write a short story for the book in the end!!!

We were just 25 (her) and 29 (me) on that first date. We found we had much in common -- a love of travel, books, theatre, music and Harry Potter. Now we're 45 and 49 respectively, and we've spent the last 20 years travelling the world, eating a nice mix of the finest and fastest of foods, going to more shows and concerts than I could possibly count, and generally just having a wonderful old time of life together.

The first two photos were taken back in 2002, on REAL cameras. The third and fourth were taken a few months ago, in Center Parcs Ireland, on our phones. (We got photo-bombed in the fourth by a pair of feral-looking children!)

I've a lot more grey hairs than I had 20 years ago (but I have a much smarter haircut now - not that it can be seen under the hat in the two photos! - so hey, it's swings and roundabouts!!), and I'm not as baby-faced as I was back then (I'll never forget being mistaken as a student at one of my events in the USA, and told by a stern teacher that I should have left my bag with the others by the wall), but I think Mrs Shan is looking as radiant and youthful as she did on that first date, and the years have barely touched her. That might be down to the fact that she's warm-hearted and clean-living... or maybe she's really a vampire!!!!

Either way, I'm raising a big virtual mug of Vampire Mountain's finest ale to our twenty years as a couple -- and here's to the next twenty, and hopefully many more beyond. Cheers!!!