Today Mr M and I enjoyed a very leisurely lunch at The Goring. This old-school hotel is our treat venue par excellence as its kitchen excels at modern versions of traditional British food and the subdued setting offers a level of peace and quiet which is rare in London. And as today is our sixth wedding anniversary, it seemed appropriate to head there to celebrate the occasion.

As readers of The Double Life of Mrs M probably know, Mr M is never quite in shot but always present in my meanderings through life. He is the gallant soul who witnesses my antics with a mixture of mirth and generous encouragement. After three years of blogging, however, he deserves a little more limelight. After all, how can I talk about six very happy years of marriage – despite the travails of life – without singing his praises?

So, without further ado, Mr M is the:

• supportive partner who allowed me to spend two and half years in foreign countries to pursue a career;
• compassionate husband who held me gently during the rawness of losing my beloved father and all the months of mourning that followed;
• kind-hearted animal lover who adopted two cats with me; grew attached to Zoë and Dante; helped make the painful decision to let Zoë go when she was terminally ill; and shared my delight when Dante (aka our “special needs” cat) blossomed into a loving mog;
• voice of reason who encouraged me to let go of the “responsible” career to explore areas of interest even though there was no certainty of what opportunities it would bring;
• enthusiastic guest who merrily throws himself into the clan gatherings with my (slightly) eccentric siblings;
• benevolent friend who ignores the squawky notes from my fiddle and congratulates me as I stumble haltingly to the last bar of a song;
• generous host who wholeheartedly welcomes my itinerant friends with a hearty meal and our bar of odd digestifs;
• accomplished foodie with whom I have shared hundreds of tasty home-cooked meals;
• knowledgable music-lover with whom I have sat spellbound in dozens of concerts as the last note lingers in the air;
• excited but slightly-baffled supporter who cheers me on as I drag my body across the finish line and praises my 10K-time as if I have just broken the 4-minute mile;
• optimistic gardener who, like me, considers a harvest of a dozen home-grown potatoes and a handful of kale a real treasure;
• gentle soul, who after six years of marriage, still cares enough about my feelings to not berate me for leaving puddles when I get out of the bath or shower but kindly observes that water runs off me differently than it does off him…

Mr M, quizzically watching the meanderings of my personae