I’ve been with my SO for 4 years. He’s patiently accepting of the fact that we will not move in together while we still have caring responsibilities (his mother, my daughter) but will be moving in very incremental stages (when his mother has to be in a care home she will go to one nearer me, so he can move to my area of the country).
I fully anticipate (because we’ve talked about it!) that once DD is more independent, we’ll get married. It’s the exact opposite of what I dreamed of as a little girl, when I thought I’d be a teenage bride like my own mother, but I’m so glad of it. If my ex had proposed, I probably would have lived out that dream and it would have been hell in reality. In fact when we split he threw it in my face that he’d ‘thought about’ proposing as if I should be grateful he’d considered it!
Instead, I’ll be marrying in my late 30s, in a steady, comfortable, loving relationship and I hope my beautiful DD will be maid of honour.
My SO is older than me. If the worst should happen while I’m still at an age where I want companionship (his own mother remarried in her late 70s!) then I hope it would be in a set-up as she had. He enriched her life and understood
their connection as a widower himself. I’d probably marry legally, as it makes things easier, but the only wedding I want is the one with my current SO. I can’t imagine wanting to celebrate love with anyone other than him. He’s the kindest man I’ve ever met. He has such a warm heart. He’s clever, he's strong, he’s handsome, he makes me laugh but above all he’s just so nice! I can’t picture a wedding with anyone else.