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.

We kissed on that first date and things moved quickly between us, soon telling friends and family we were together.