Marriage

Some months after Christa's death, I discovered a little saying that resonated strongly:

Left to right:

... Christa and me in Meisenheim¹ for Christmas 1975
... Peter and Christa in late 1980, in the Old Windsor house...
... Christa and me in July 2006, during a brief visit by Big Bro shortly after Christa's penultimate surgery.

I heard from...

... one of her school friends back in June 2008:

The other day I happened to visit your diary and came across these lovely 
photos of Christa when she was young. She was such a beauty and one could 
see in her eyes how happy and in love she was then when you first met.

Since I happened to agree (!) I replied accordingly:

Christa was always beautiful in my eyes, and I hope and believe she remained 
very happy with me throughout her life. What more, in any realistic sense, 
could one ask for? Apart from another 33 years, of course!

Footnote

¹  We took dear Mama over to West Germany (as it was, then) with us, but being less than a year since her own bereavement the season was not one of unalloyed jollity.