Jonathan Currinn
We’ve all seen it in the movies – well I certainly have – as well as TV series where a cute loving couple have their own personalised padlock which they attach to a Lover’s Bridge together and throw the keys into the water below. Well, on Friday, 9 March 2018, I did just that with my boyfriend.
I’ve always considered it one of the most adorable things I’ve ever seen on screen and I never thought I’d ever get the chance to do it with someone. Recently things have changed, as those of you who read my blog titled My Valentine’s Day From Hell would know. For the first time in my entire life, I’ve found love, with a guy is truly adore; someone who I plan to spend the rest of my life with.
We started talking over a dating app called Surge, and first met at the start of December. Since that very first day, sparks ignited. We soon started dating before becoming official at the start of February. He said he planned to break my week and a half curse (which is the life-span of my previous relationships), and now we’ve been together for almost two months officially; and, as each day passes I fall deeper and deeper in love with him. I truly believe he’s my soul mate, which is why I decided to go ahead and buy a padlock for Lover’s Bridge.
My initial plan was to give him it as part of his Valentine’s Day present; but, me being me, I decided I didn’t want just any old padlock. We’ve all seen them, those grey metal boring padlocks that come in a variety of styles and the only personalised part of them are the engraved letters and the permanent marker writing that users have done to make it their own.
So, I went about searching for something more personal. My boyfriend is a Pokémon fan and I found a few Pokémon locks on eBay – there was a Charmander one and a Clefairy one – but they came without keys; great! So, I went exploring on google, to which I found a Meowth one, a Pikachu full-body one, and a Ghastly one, but they were all ship to Asia only. Days went by where I almost gave up, but I decided to keep searching, and soon came across a Pikachu head padlock, which was shipped worldwide – YES!
I almost left it with that but I decided that Pikachu needed a friend. Since Stitch from Lilo & Stitch is my favourite Disney character, which I am obsessed with; I decided to check to see if there was a Stitch padlock. Trust it to be just as difficult as finding a Pokemon padlock; they were all either a rubber casing that goes over a mini metal lock – which wouldn’t last two minutes with the rain and snow in England – or it was ship to Asia only. Another few days passed until I came across one on the American eBay site that said “ship worldwide”, yet it wasn’t showing on the UK eBay site – don’t ask me why I have no idea. It got to the point where I decided to message the seller; that’s when the eBay site switched over to the UK store and I could click on the product web page for the UK site. I added it to my watch list and then bought it that way.
Both of them arrived at the start of March and I wrote on them with my Sharpies. I wrapped up the locks and gave them to my boyfriend when we next saw each other – it’s a long-distance relationship but he’s worth every single mile (all 125 of them – yes, that’s how far away we are from one another) – he almost teared up at how much his heart melted at this present. I don’t think any of us can possibly top this present.
It was a very rainy Friday when we went to The Mailbox in Birmingham and strode up to Lover’s Bridge. My boyfriend had no problems putting the Pikachu lock on the bridge, but Stitch was being beyond awkward for me as we continued to get wet by the rain. I finally managed to attach Stitch to Pikachu and the bridge, making the two characters locked together forever, which is how our hearts feel – I love him so much. Then we threw the keys in the canal below.
The following day, we revisited them in the mild but cloudy day. They stand out against all the other metal padlocks and they look cute locked together on the bridge. I am worried that some child is going to try their best to steal them or even destroy them. I’m also worried the rain and the recent snow has smudged away the writing – although I did use Sharpie markers which are supposed to be permanent.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgLxsvAhEIX
I cannot believe I’ve finally put a lock on lover’s bridge. Actually, I can’t believe I have a boyfriend who loves me as much as I love him and loved locking our favourite characters to the bridge. Pikachu and Stitch will remain there forever, just like how our relationship will last forever. So cute!
