MY GIRLFRIEND IS NOW MY HUSBAND

By the time they reached the aisle, so much had changed for Julie McLean, 53, and her groom

- DONNA SMILEY

Walking down the aisle in a stunning white lace gown, my eyes filled with tears as I saw my handsome fiancé standing proudly by the altar. With his neatly trimmed stubble framing his big smile and wearing a smart blue suit, he was the most gorgeous groom I’d ever seen. It was April 2022 and as our hands interlaced, I was so ready to make Shay my husband. You may not realise looking at this photograph of us, but our lives have changed dramatically in the past 10 years. A decade ago, Shay was my girlfriend, and his name was Sally…

Sally and I had met back in 2007 when we’d worked together in a leisure centre. I was a single mum to Carla, then 21, and Aaron, 18, after divorcing from my husband of 20 years, and Sally was in a similar situation - she had two children, Andrew, then 17 and Aimee, eight. We chatted away about our kids and gossiped about work, and while our conversations never went beyond that, I have to admit I always had feelings for Sally. While she was shy, her adoration for her children and her warm personality shone through. She identified as a lesbian but I considered myself to be straight, so nothing happened between us.

In 2008, I left to start another job, and we lost touch. Then, in 2011, I received a message on Facebook. ‘Hi Julie,’ Sally said. ‘It’s about time!’ I replied. We were both now single and when we met up for the first time two weeks later, on 11 April 2011, that connection I’d felt before returned.