Rosie's Story. Melbourne, Australia.

Mike and I didn’t really have the most romantic of settings for our relationship to blossom…we met when we were both working at a plumbing company. I was working in the office and Mike was working as a plumber’s assistant. We were both 19 and working there to pay our way through the University of Melbourne. Mike had to bring the paperwork into the office after he and a plumber finished a job. It was my job to use this paperwork to raise an invoice and that’s how we met.

To be honest, I didn’t really take much notice of him at first. I didn’t know that he was also studying at the University and so I just assumed we didn’t have much in common since he was going to be a plumber and I was studying to be an architect. Of course now he teases me that I thought I was too good for him! After a while I began to notice that he was the only person bringing in the paperwork, even for the jobs that he hadn’t been working. Apparently he had volunteered to take all of the paperwork into the office so that he could see me. I was really surprised when he eventually told me this because he barely spoke to me.

Then one Friday he told me that it was his birthday and that all of the guys at the firm were taking him out for a drink and asked if I would like to come. On a normal day I would have said no, but I’d had a really rubbish week and I needed to blow off some steam, so I said yes. We went to a pub down the road and I talked to the other girls from the office and he talked to the plumbers. We eventually found ourselves standing next to each other at the bar. A few drinks had obviously loosened his tongue because he started chatting away.

He started talking about how he was studying engineering and that he was going to go to graduate school in London. I was really surprised about how much we had in common: I wanted to continue my studies in London and we also seemed to know some of the same people at school. After that night we would talk for ages when he came to bring paperwork into the office. We also began bumping into each other on campus, which he later confessed to have completely orchestrated with military precision.

He eventually asked me out about two months after his birthday. By this time I was totally smitten with him. Mike is a big bloke, a rugby player, and I have always had a thing for big, strong men…especially those with intelligence. On our first date Mike blew me away with his knowledge of architecture and we both shared a love of Monty Python. I fell head over heels in love with him that night and he later told me that he felt the same. Of course we didn’t tell each other straight away; we dated for three months before we declared our love for each other.

We both got accepted to Kingston University and it was while we were busy preparing for our move that I first started to experience symptoms of bipolar disorder, although I didn't realise what was going on at the time. I went through a period of having limitless energy. I barely slept but I felt amazing. I didn’t think too much about it because I assumed I was just caught up in the excitement of this life changing experience.

We got a little flat in Kingston and started our courses. I felt like I was flying-I really enjoyed my course and Mike and I were head over heels in love. After a few months we decided to get married and all of our family came over from Oz to celebrate with us. We were so happy; I just couldn’t imagine that life would be anything other than this amazing whirlwind.

Just after the wedding I started feeling really low. I felt so confused because I was sure that I was happier than I had ever been, but I couldn’t shake this cloud of sadness that enveloped me. I didn’t want to tell Mike how I was feeling because I was worried that he would think that I was unhappy about our marriage, but he noticed that I wasn’t myself and kept asking me if I was ok. I eventually told him how I was feeling and we decided that I must be on a bit of a comedown from all the exciting things that had been happening.

One morning I woke up and was buzzing again. At first Mike and I were really happy that I was back to normal and I started excelling in my studies. Everything was going great and then bam! I was back in the grips of the sadness. I was able to deal with these cycles of highs and lows for about ten years but then it just started to get worse.

I finally went to see a doctor and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. It was really strange, because we were devastated but also happy to find that there was a reason for the way that I was feeling. I took medication for a while but it didn’t seem to help that much. I eventually had to give up work and there were periods of time when I wouldn’t get out of bed for days.

It’s been fifteen years now since I was diagnosed and I’ve tried lots of different combinations of medication but I’ve never completely made it back to being myself. Mike has always been amazing. He’s had to look after me all of these years and I worry that I’m not the girl that he fell in love with. To be honest I’m surprised that he’s stuck it out for this long. He tells me that no matter what he loves me more and more each day and it’s a funny thing, you know, because that’s exactly how I feel about him.


Have your love story added to the collection by emailing it to: thelovecollector@gmail.com

Artwork has been created by the amazingly talented and generous Valentina Ramos. Check out her blog: Feeling Inspired.








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