The power of a story.

My cousin told me a few days ago that her relationship with her American boyfriend has remained in existence because of me and Jeremy. The fact that we stuck it out gave her hope and so they persevered. Boo (my cousin, hers is a family full of quirky nicknames) is a bit of an evangelist for our relationship. Something about our story struck a chord with her fantastical sense of romance / the absurd and she has mythologised us so that we have become some sort of paradigm of Love Prevailing. Apparently Jeremy and I are even unwittingly responsible for inspiring the continuing romance of at least one other couple. Quite how we've achieved this I'm not entirely sure - it's a good job they never asked my long-distance relationship oracle-esque advice, because I'd have told them to run a mile.

In truth, Boo and her boyfriend Brandon (they're very alliterative) managed the whole thing a lot better than Jeremy and I. Brandon moved over to England in the 2nd year of their relationship, he studied here and then managed to get a job in London where they've lived together for the past 2 years. That's how you're supposed to do it.

But I like the way Boo sees us - the rose-tinted glow is alluring and makes me think fondly of that emergent 'Us'.

So I thought I'd briefly tell our story. The rosy one, without my cynical commentary of 'little did we know' (mostly without it - sometimes I can't resist). Because it was the Story that first intoxicated me. I fell in love with the Story of us, the idea of recounting our Story at future dinner-parties, wedding speeches, grandchildren's bedtimes (yes, I think that far ahead, although in my imaginings I'm not wrinkly, only wiser). And as the Story took shape in my imagination, it began to wind its spell around us - Jeremy became the man I had to know, because the Story said so, and it would be a crime to ruin a perfect tale of Love just by being a little weak-hearted about the idea of something so trifling as a Long Distance relationship (trifiling, you understand, in the face of such heroic, unprecedented, hyperbolic LOVE.)

Here's the Story:

Once, outside a Pizza place, in Sorrento, in Italy, a young English girl sat laughing with her friends in the balmy summer's evening. An American boy happened upon the girl and her friends (Oliver, if you're reading this, you've been edited out of the Story - makes it tidier this way, sorry). His heart sank as he saw her (Jeremy's own words - I think he meant his heart 'sang', but who knows) and he knew in that moment that here was a girl who could change everything for always. The girl barely noticed him, but her friends welcomed him to sit and partake in some victuals of pizza and cheap italian wine.

That evening, inspired by more wine and pistachio and bacon flavoured Gelato (that actually exists - it's gross but amusing), the girl and boy began to talk. They found they could talk about anything. The next few days they became more and more intrigued with each-other. There were waterfights and coastal hikes and boats around islands...

On the third day, he kissed her, on the beach, under the stars. On the fourth day, they realised that soon the boy would have to fly back to his own land. They promised to write to eachother and on the fifth day, the girl tearfully waved him goodbye at the train station.

The girl assumed that the boy would forget her, and at the very least expected him to be practical and to suggest they stay 'just-friends', but the boy said that he 'never ruled anything out in matters of the heart' (again, a direct quotation). This sealed their fate, because the girl was far too romantic and impractical to suggest anything different.

Two months later, having missed him more than she thought she could bear, she flew to visit him. There they declared their Love and there the Story of their beginnings took root - determined to sustain them through all the hardships they would face...

So there you have it - our Story, as mythologised originally by me and propagated by my earnest cousin. I'm happy it's made other people fight for Love rather than giving up. Although if anyone wants to know my advice if contemplating a long distance relationship, I'd say categorically run away. Run away now. And if you can't run away, then you've already been sucked in so you may as well take a deep breath and get on with it.