Tales of Chris and Fran – by Fran

How we got together

Chris and I got together about three years ago, although neither of us can tell you exactly when. We met on 28th August 2010 that is for sure. But as for the date we decided to be together, who knows? September? October? Either? One of the best things about getting married is the fact that we’ll finally have a definite anniversary date!

I’ll be honest, Chris and I met on a dating website, which I joined after a few to many drinks – that clearly wasn’t the only reason I was on it as I kept going back and updating my profile! I was very careful on my profile as I was still swimming and didn’t fancy a media story with a headline that read “Swimmer caught on dating website”. Therefore, I thought my profile was worded carefully enough to give a hint as what I did but not shout about it.
Theoretically, Chris and I should never have met. We lived 180-miles apart and both had our match “settings” set to a 30-mile radius. Nevertheless, my profile popped up for Chris and he took a look. Now, instead of just messaging me to say hi, like a normal person, he took all the hints in my profile, added them up then googled what he’d worked out. The result of which was his first ever message to me, which literally said: “Hi, are you Fran Williamson?” … WHOA! What?

Anyway! Despite his crazy, stalkerish, tendencies, we started chatting – a lot. I even let him phone me, which is unheard of since I hate the phone. But I was surprised by how easy it was to chat to him. Soon enough, he was on his way down to Cambridge to visit me!

The first time we met, I wasn’t too sure about him (don’t worry, he knows this). In an odd kind of way, he seemed too nice! He was also wearing an awful sky blue v-neck woollen jumper and couldn’t cook ANYTHING! Thankfully, he can cook now and the jumper went to charity. Needless to say, he won me round pretty quickly and by December I was spending Christmas with Chris and his family. I suppose, really, spending Christmas with people I’d only known three months, was a little odd. But his parents have since said that they knew we were going to be serious when Chris asked if I could join them.

Ups and downs

I think it is fair to say that we didn’t have the easiest start to our relationship. A little while after we got together I started suffering with depression (it wasn’t his fault! Haha!). In under a year of being together I had ended my ten year international career and needed to find a job. On top of this, Chris was finishing his PhD, which definitely wasn’t easy and took some guts.

But every time something went wrong, I was grateful that Chris was there to hold my hand. We laugh now, knowing what we’ve been together, and say “I just can’t get rid of ya”. There were times, when I was ill, when I stormed out my house and thought he might not be there when I got home – he always was.

Whenever we argue, which isn’t much, Chris just tries to make me laugh, which I hate! The fact is; he can make me laugh even when I don’t want to, and he knows it! Indeed, there isn’t a day that goes by when he doesn’t make me laugh.

Great things have happened too, of course. Chris has finished his PhD (I’m officially marrying a Doctor) and I’ve finished my Masters degree. I’ve found a job I love (thanks to Chris) and so has he. Also, we are just about to buy the house we live in with a fantastic deposit – a situation neither of us thought we’d be in before.

Our future

The truth is, ever since we got together I don’t think there has been much doubt about the fact that we’re destined to work. I’ve never felt the ability to be completely myself before. For example, with most of my previous partners I would have felt the need to hide my addiction to writing.com. Whereas Chris just rolls his eyes and smiles!

We’d been talking about getting married for ages before he actually proposed. Incidentally, he proposed on Christmas Day 2012 by putting my engagement ring in the advent calendar. I knew it was coming though because he has the subtly of an elephant.

We also came up with the name of our first child very quickly (not that we have kids yet). We both like the name Charlie, for either a boy or girl. Whenever I spend loads of money or do something naughty/silly, Chris will say things like “poor Charlie” or “think of little Charlie” – to which I just roll my eyes and sigh!

To be honest, I was never that bothered about having kids until I met Chris. But I know that he will be a wonderful father and I think not having kids with him would be a waste and a mistake. Therefore, I am now excited about the prospect of Charlie coming along.

Our adventures

We both have different types of Cerebral Palsy, so it’s not the easiest life but we make the most of what we have every day.

I love holidays and travel, but Chris was initially wary about how we’d manage. Nevertheless, last year, we booked a two-week all-inclusive holiday to Cuba. For someone who finds it hard to relax, he loved it and barely moved the whole time. So much so that we’re going back again in a few weeks. When we got back, he was keen to book another holiday!

Not to be out done by the engagement, for a Christmas/birthday/well-done-for-passing-your-PhD gift, I booked us a trip to New York in April. He loved that too!

We’ve grown so much in the last three years: mostly because Chris can now cook (haha) and is not afraid to try new things. But it is awesome to be able to share everyday and everything with my best friend.