V A is a long standing and recognised digital creative; her voice resonates with many. In the last ten years, the site has developed into an online destination for fashion, beauty and lifestyle advice. Her sense of style, editorial flair and practical counsel offers an inspired and graceful approach to living.

V A is a long standing and recognised digital creative; her voice resonates with many. In the last ten years, the site has developed into an online destination for fashion, beauty and lifestyle advice. Her sense of style, editorial flair and practical counsel offers an inspired and graceful approach to living.

Edit by: Vicki
Nov 27, 2011

A Little Romance On Thanksgiving



Thanksgiving is not a holiday that I celebrate… unless I am invited to indulge in these wonderful festivities with American friends… but it is a time that has meaning for me. A coincidence of dates means that I equate Thanksgiving with romance… I know the purpose of this holiday is to be thankful and count blessings and that is where the romance comes in… Thanksgiving always falls around my wedding anniversary and when you have been married for many decades ( to the same person) and managed to stay happy there is an enormous amount to be thankful for… and… a lot of time to contemplate romance.


This year is not a ‘big’ one for us but nevertheless it’s a long time to be together… How can romance survive after so long?… I suppose the principal ingredient to a fine romance is to choose well… I did, gratefully and I reflect on this often. Choosing is the tough part and for most of us we find our partners when we are young and not sure of ourselves… I met mine at 20… what did I know of my future?… Very little… my hopes and dreams were mere wisps and not well thought out or planned. It would be much more sensible to marry in maturity, when we know ourselves, but for most of us we can’t wait that long… So choosing is everything and understanding character and compatibility means the make or break of a marriage… and this means luck…. A romance is dependent on a fair measure of good luck… so much must align for a good romance… First you have to meet… to be in the right place at the right time… and  there has to be that level of attraction that sparks the butterflies and thoughts of a romance… Then follows the dating… presuming  those feelings are acted upon…  How many romances must have ended before they started?…  Nothing more than secret thoughts that stay secret… desires that don’t find their voice… After dating there needs to be commitment for a romance to morph from the short term into the long term… and perhaps this is the most perilous step, the point where many romances fail… the boundaries of the romance change…and a future becomes the focus… With all these most simple reasons in the world not to connect, a romance that does endure is nothing short of a miracle.


Romance is about the small gestures in the everyday… not just the expected fanfare on a special date… Romance is remembering not to take for granted what is there so easily for the taking… Appreciating each other’s strengths and accepting that perfection is impossible… Romance needs imagination… and an endless supply for a long romance… Romance is about being unpredictable… the element of surprise should never be underestimated… Romance means being bothered… taking the time and making the effort and…  Romance…. romance is looking at the world through someone else’s eyes… Romance is not just about our own happiness and expectations.


This weekend for our anniversary we are going to Paris… it’s our tradition most years. I don’t know where we are staying or where we are celebrating… but that’s the exciting part… To be somewhere familiar, with my special love and an element of surprise… for me, that’s romance.


Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with much love, laughter… and romance… xv

Edit by: Vicki
In This Post: Lifestyle