Looking at the scoreboard at the bowling alley, my heart leapt – but not because I’d won.
‘Goodie,’ I thought excitedly. ‘I can challenge James to a rematch.’
It would be the perfect excuse to spend time with him – and I couldn’t have wanted anything more.
Because although I was only on my first date with James, it was love at first sight and I already knew I wanted to see him again and again.
Luckily, when we got home after having dinner at Frankie and Benny’s, he confessed he felt the same. In fact, he told me he had already written his wedding speech!
My mum’s cousin, Matthew, had suggested James and I connect on Facebook back in 2017, as he thought we’d get on really well. And as soon as we started messaging, I understood why.
James was kind, he made me laugh – and it helped that he was quite easy on the eye!
And as well as both being religious, we had something else in common too. We both had Down’s syndrome, a condition caused by being born with an extra chromosome and results in having some level of learning disability.
Yet, I barely noticed this about James when we met. Instead, I saw his wonderfully kind and gentle personality, him as an individual person, not a label.
Yet despite the fact that we both knew we wanted to be together forever from the start, we continued dating, to make sure we got to know each other.
We’d been dating for one year when James took me to my favourite restaurant and got down on one knee and asked to marry me. It was the easiest yes of my life and I jumped for joy, kissing him. James is the best thing in my life – and his proposal was everything I had ever dreamed of.
The fact that he had asked my mum and dad’s permission to ask me to marry him four times, just to make sure they were happy, only further proved he was the one for me.
They’ve always been my biggest supporters and I’m glad he showed them that respect.
We’d originally planned to have a wedding with 220 people, but due to the pandemic, we got married in 2020 with only 30 people present at Hillfields Church in Coventry.
We weren’t allowed to sing at the church and the reception was swapped for a meal at a local pub.
But we still had the most wonderful day and live-streamed the ceremony – this has now been seen online by more than 46,000 people!
We had to put our honeymoon to Italy on hold because of Covid, but we were lucky enough to have a mini-moon after our wedding – a staycation in Coventry.
And when we finally made it to Italy this July, it was every bit as good as we’d hoped – we had both of our birthdays on the trip, and our wedding anniversary. Three celebrations in one!
We went on a romantic gondola in Florence and took the iconic shots at the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We even enjoyed a sunset cruise on Lake Garda for our anniversary, where the captain put on songs so we could slow-dance onboard.
We spent James’ 30th birthday visiting Juliet’s balcony in Verona – the perfect setting for the love birds that we are.
And on my birthday, the waiters in the restaurant all sang to me and made me feel very special. They said we were the loveliest customers they had had in years!
People were really inclusive and accommodating on the trip throughout Italy, I was really impressed with all the available disability concessions and additional support for us.
We have to bust the myth that people with Down’s syndrome can’t have romantic relationships and live full vibrant lives. With the right support, people with a learning disability can do anything they want to.
That’s why, as part of my campaigning and representation work, I’m an ambassador for the learning disability charity, Mencap. I’m a proud member of the ‘Myth Busters’ squad, 18 people who aim to prove that people with a learning disability can achieve amazing things.
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Platform is the home of Metro.co.uk’s first-person and opinion pieces, devoted to giving a platform to underheard and underrepresented voices in the media.
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I love being a voice for those who find it difficult to speak out and I’m a passionate advocate for disability rights.
The public need to learn to see the people behind the chromosome.
That’s how I see James, as the funny, kind, gentle man that I’ve fallen in love with. And that’s how I know he sees me.
So, How Did It Go?
So, How Did It Go? is a weekly Metro.co.uk series that will make you cringe with second-hand embarrassment or ooze with jealousy as people share their worst and best date stories.
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