My Story How it could have been very different

August 3, 2026

Discover how a life could have been completely different.

Everyone hs a story to tell and mine is how life could have been completely different.

You may have noticed an article we posted titled “A Record of Your Life”. We believe that everyone has a story to tell and the process of doing so has positive mental benefits and the finished article may be of interest to others.

My father was a keen writer, and I persuaded him to write a memoir which I would type up. He had an interesting background and his experience in the 2^nd World War was largely unknown to his children. Sadly, he died before he finished. I wish I had that record as do many of my relatives.

As I’ve suggested you should tell your story so it’s only right that I should do so. “A Record of Your Life” outlines how technology can make the task easier.

I started writing about six months ago even though there is nothing especially dramatic about my story. I didn’t use any of the recommended technology only because I wanted to write and knew there would be a process of revision.

What I discovered was how well I could recollect events and when they happened and, more surprisingly, names I thought I would have long forgotten. I set no timetable for completing my story or specific times when I would write. I do so as and when I feel like it. I’m up to about 45,000 words and still have a way to go. What has surprised me is that the few I’ve told outside of my family have all expressed an interest in reading the completed piece.

One of the benefits has been a fresh perspective on paths that I have chosen and subsequent effect. Seldom does the path of life run smoothly.

Anyway, here is an abridged version of the most significant event in my life – meeting my wife.

 It’s 1983 and I was living and working from a flat on the Kings Road with five others. I owned a video production company primarily specialising in horse racing.

“Opposite where I lived was an Italian restaurant, La Bersagliera. On the many occasions that I went there for lunch or a takeaway, I couldn’t fail to notice a very attractive waitress, who spurned all my attempts to establish a meaningful connection. I discovered later that her instinct was to ignore the numerous scribbled phone numbers she received from other customers.

If matters were going to progress, I needed a different tactic. Dinner with a female companion was met with a less than a friendly attitude so maybe there was some interest. The clincher came when as I was leaving the flat on day as she emerged after her lunch shift. I hopped into my car and offered her a lift even though I was going in the opposite direction. Perhaps this act of chivalry persuaded her to accept an invitation to meet up.

At the time my strategy for any first date was to suggest lunch to avoid any awkwardness that might occur at the end of a dinner date.  It was also much more relaxing 

Starting a relationship with Anna signified a big Sliding Doors moment.

If I had accepted an offer to sell my business six months previously, then Anna and I would never have met because I wouldn’t have been working where I was. The offer was very advantageous for me but not my co-workers. I decided to stay loyal to them and, if I hadn’t, life would have taken a very different course. Similarly, Anna should never have been placed to meet me because she shouldn’t have been waitressing in La Bersagliera.

Anna came from a provincial small town southeast of Rome, Cisterna di Latina. It was one of Mussolini’s prewar new builds and most residents still worshipped the dictator 40/50 years after his death. As a young girl, Anna had been raised by her grandmother as her mother was married to her stepfather with whom she had a son.

When Anna returned to Cisterna as a teenager, she refused to take the name of her stepfather which caused serious conflict. He was a Neapolitan with fixed ideas of the role of a woman not least subservience to the man of the house.

Anna was determined to leave the claustrophobic life of Cisterna, something unheard of at her age. She considered London or Paris. She met one of the Guinness family on holiday who gave her details of an Au Pair agency in London and that was why she chose London. Her English was non-existent, so it was incredibly brave to leave her homeland and come to London alone and knowing no one.

The agency sent her to two potential positions, but her lack of English was an insurmountable barrier. She was sent for a final job opportunity and told if she failed there was nothing else, they could do.

The mother who interviewed her was keen to learn Italian so offered Anna the job. However no sooner had she started than she contracted glandular fever. Most employers would have told her to go back home to be cared for by her family, but they kept her on and nursed her back to health.

So that’s why we should never have met – I could have accepted the offer to sell, and Anna could well have returned to Italy. A Sliding Doors moment.

By the time we met, Anna had a passable command of English.

On our first date we went for lunch and then to the cinema to see Local Hero. Coincidentally, the title track was written and recorded by Mark Knopfler, and years later our paths would cross, albeit briefly.

Encouraged by the first date, I suggested to Anna that on her next day off I would pick her up without telling her what we were going to do.

We went to Oxford for lunch at a restaurant by the river. I thought she would appreciate the beauty and tradition of Oxford. After lunch I suggested we go punting, an unusual experience for her. I was reasonably confident of my ability having had some prior experience, My confidence grew as we ambled downstream but that was misplaced when we had to go upstream to return to our place of departure. One stroke forward became almost one back and we were quickly passed by others far more proficient.

Fortunately, Anna found my attempts hilarious as my aptitude became ever more pitiful. She must have thought these Englishmen are crazy but heh it’s different so let’s see where it goes.”

Anna and I were married the following year, and I can say with no fear of contradiction that I love her more today than I did even then.