) though maybe it is just that all the men I've known have been particularly wanting in that dept. My wedding passed completely without any speech extolling my virtues - there was no 'father of the bride' speech and Homer's speech faithfully mentioned everyone but me. He didn't even use the 'my wife and I' line. Nothing, zilch, nada....not that I've held it against him these past 17 years you understand 
However, I've just returned from a wedding where the groom's speech brought a lump to my throat. The groom is a member of 45 Commando and had returned, only 3 weeks previously, from deployment in Afghanistan. He explained how when they are sent to a combat zone they are asked to write letters to loved ones, to be sent in event of their death. Glyn decided, as his groom's speech, to read the letter he had written to his young bride, telling of his love for her and his dreams of the future they would have had together. It was extremely moving and all present knew how other young men had written similar letters which subsequently were read in far less happy circumstances. I couldn't help but think of Mark Wright, the young Craigmillar soldier who lost his life in Afghanistan and whom I had once met when he accompanied his fiancee Gillian, as she babysat our young son. As I watched one young bride looking radiant on her special day, I thought of another young woman who was so cruelly robbed of her dreams.
I think I might just stop bemoaning the lack of romance in my other half and be grateful for the life we have together instead.
