Well, the time finally came to bid an emotional farewell to John and Lisa. I had been mentally preparing myself for this over the past few days, as the realisation that my time here was coming to an end slowly set in. I was up first, for a change, and immediately set to work clearing out the spare room I had called home for the past few weeks. After tidying everything away and taking a refreshing shower, I found the last bit of bacon and the sausages in the fridge and cooked up breakfast.
John was soon up and active, and we spent a few moments enjoying the back garden view before I finally started loading my things into the car. As I was walking through the back door with a few bags, I felt something prodding me from behind. It was, of course, John mockingly ‘showing me the way out’, kicking me all the way to the car. The ribbing continued right up to when John ran to the front gate to ensure it was fully open, so as not to obstruct my departure—hilarious to the last. It was another humorous bit that did well to mask the emotion of the parting. I think we will all miss each other.
I had a wonderful time in Wales with John and Lisa. All joking aside, we exchanged hugs and kisses and heartfelt resolutions to see each other again. I left Wales a different person—more relaxed, more at ease with the world and my predicament. I couldn’t have done that without the space they afforded me to just be myself. With a final wave, I pulled out of the drive and set off in the direction of England. I made it all of about 3 kilometres before I realised I had left my drink bottle in the fridge, so I had to double back. When I walked through the door to surprise them both again, I found John cleaning the dining room table where we played so many games of LIJONG. I mocked that John had already started the process of fumigating the house following my departure—squeezing one more giggle in before I left again.
This time with my water bottle and ham sandwich, I set off in the direction of Stevenage to swing by Little Jacky’s house on my way to my niece, Jenny-Lee (JL), in Clacton. The irony is that JL and her family were on holiday not that far from Cardiff when I was there the other day. I could potentially have seen them then, had I known they were there.
The four-and-a-half-hour journey to Stevenage was uneventful. Not far out of Wales, I realised the air blower in the car had stopped working. It was around 18ºC, and I was driving with both front windows down, so it wasn’t really an immediate problem. My only concern is that it will make it hard for me to demist the windows the next time that becomes necessary.
I did sneak in a brief stop to stretch my legs at one of several nondescript motorway services along the route. I nearly succumbed to the temptation to pick out a few snacks, but the sticker shock from the prices soon put that notion to rest. Already, John and Lisa’s way of life is rubbing off on me.
When I arrived at Jacky’s, she was already preparing some egg and sausage rolls for me, bless her heart. She and Ella were preparing to leave for a week’s holiday in Malaga in the morning, so I didn’t hang around for long—just long enough to rest a bit from the journey and catch up a bit with them both. Like my other relatives here in the UK, they take me as I come and always make me instantly feel welcome, as though I belong there.
I was soon on the road again, bound for Clacton to visit my bestest, cutest, most favourit’est, most fun loving’est, niece in all the world. JL is the eldest of the several hundred nephews and nieces Sandy and I have between us. The last time I was a significant part of JL’s life was when she was a young teenager, before my kids were even born. I’ve seen her only a few times over the decades. In my mind’s eye, she is still that young teenager that I loved so much all those years ago. Today, she is a vibrant woman, wife and mother with no fewer than seven children—some biological, some adopted and some fostered.
After getting out of the car, JL was already at the front door. We threw our arms around each other, grinning from ear to ear. I stepped into a hectic home full of warmth and life. Kids ran enthusiastically here and there. The house was buzzing—much like my own family home from when I was a small child. I instantly fell in love with it all. Kids were enthusiastically showing me the various pets in the home, including dogs and kittens, as well as ducks and chickens roaming the back garden. I was even introduced to a praying mantis as a pet. Despite so much going on everywhere I looked, JL and her husband Jay just seemed to take it all in their stride—the mark of competent parents.
After a lovely home-cooked meal that Jay whipped up, I spent much of the evening catching up with JL. Immediately, we discovered we had a few things in common—especially regarding having neurodivergent children with special needs. We compared notes and exchanged numerous anecdotes on the subject. I found it so refreshing to speak to someone who is clearly on the same wavelength about the subject.
Another subject we have in common is 3D printing. Chugging away over to one side of the living room was a Bambu Lab P2S printer—identical to one of ours. One of JL’s kids is really into the hobby, as are we, so we also chatted about that for a while.
JL is in the midst of preparing to move to a slightly larger property. This one is already big by UK standards, but it’s not hard to see why they want more space, given the hubbub in every direction. I was assigned to JL and Jay’s bedroom, relegating them to the couch for the duration of my stay. I offered to take the couch myself, but JL was insistent. This immediately left me with a dilemma. I’d very much enjoy spending more time here with them, but I don’t want to impose and put them out any more than I have to—particularly as they are also organising a house move. JL has already offered us a place to stay at their new place as a family, which is incredibly enticing. It’s so hard for us to visit the UK as a family because of the logistics involved in sleeping four adult guests. I can certainly see us taking her up on that offer. We’ll definitely keep that option in our back pocket.
I was explaining to JL all about another one of Joey’s special interests—Beyblades. She instantly saw the potential for that to be a good hobby for one of her kids—so much so that she purchased a Beyblade starter set on the spot. I sent Joey a photo of the set to get his opinion on the purchase, but he was asleep at the time.
After connecting to the home’s Wifi, we had a video call with Sandy and Jae, which was a lot of fun. As luck would have it, Jae’s partner, Sophie, is visiting at the moment. After chatting with them both for a while, we hung up but were soon made aware that Joey was now awake. He replied to let me know that the Beyblade set JL had bought was a good one. Seizing the opportunity, I video called him to see whether he was going to be chatty—always a hit-or-miss prospect. I was hopeful since I might have piqued his interest by sending him a photo of a Beyblade product. Fortunately, my suspicions were proven correct. Joey was in a chatty mood when JL and I FaceTimed him. I was pleasantly surprised at how much he interacted with JL. He said he didn’t recognise her face, but he did recognise her name. JL was a significant figure in Joey and Jennifer’s lives when they were babies and toddlers in the UK—before we emigrated to Australia (back then, Jae was known as Jennifer). Indeed, JL shared some of her own photos with me of her with the kids when they were just toddlers.
I’ve settled in for the night and just polished off the day’s blog. JL has already expressed eagerness to hear what I have to say about today. I dare say I’ll find out first thing in the morning. Nighty night.