My childhood was so very happy. I know it's a bit of a cliche to reminisce about how perfect everything was when you were young, but it really was!
My parents weren't rich but I don't recall needing anything. I was the baby by quite a long way, my older brother and sister were 8 and 11 when I was born. Although I was the pesky little sister, we didn't have the kind of bickering that families with children close in age often have.
We had a close network of extended family and friends and we were always busy and active. Days out to the seaside; summer holidays at the beach; birthday parties with all the required ingredients - sausages on sticks, jelly, ice cream, cake, pass the parcel; Christmas time surrounded by family with lots of food, laughter and love. I went to a lovely small village primary school and then on to the local Village College (which seemed like such a big deal after our small primary school with two classrooms and 3 teachers). I danced and rode horses, and later joined the local Amateur Dramatic group with my Mum. Yes, I had my heart broken for the first time, but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as you might have thought if you'd seen/heard me at the time and I soon bounced back and started looking to the future.
The years immediately following secondary school were probably the most difficult. I went on to college and began to plan for life maybe as a teacher or even a lawyer. My dear Dad was diagnosed with colon cancer during this time and finally lost his battle just as I finished my studies.Little girls don't even think about losing their Dad so early - I wasn't quite 21 - and I didn't know how to cope with the hole. I went into quite a self-destruct mode of poor relationship choices, trying to find someone to fill that gap. I started working and found a niche I quite enjoyed in Human Resources.
Then the tough times returned, heartbreak was back on the radar but, this time, it was significant and made me look at every aspect of my life in a different way. Shortly after I was made redundant and ventured into the world of the BBC and in particular their radio services. Suddenly, life was really good again. I was meeting the most interesting people and found I had a voice people enjoyed listening to (hmmm....note to self - remind C that people like listening to Mummy's voice!). I was asked to go to the local American air base (when you could still just go onto bases without too much red tape) and report on the sudden interest in country music and line dancing. I'd always enjoyed dancing of all kinds, having studied ballet, tap and stage dance and competed in ballroom and latin american disciplines, so jumped at the chance. Within a month I was teaching a line dancing club at the base on Saturday evenings! And so began the period of my life that has had the most impact on the rest of it.....I was wooed and fell under the spell of an airman and in 1996 we married and headed off to the USA to settle down.
The U.S. years were so amazing. A whole new world opened up to me and it suited my style perfectly. I didn't head to the glitz and glamour of L.A or New York but to the quiet rural life of Oklahoma. I was warmly welcomed by the local community, did a lot of radio work, and found a great company to settle down with and further my Human Resources careers. Unfortunately, the marriage didn't last long but by the time it broke down I felt like I was home...even though my family were all 10,000 miles away. I don't know why I decided to stay - eventually spending 15 years there - I can only think that fate had some hand in that decision. In 2000 I was offered a move to Phoenix, Arizona and jumped at the chance to live somewhere that has 330 days of sun a year....I forgot to consider that 120 of those sunny days are actually like sitting in a hot oven with no escape route, but I adjusted. I dated some fun people, progressed well in my career, and was a Doggy Mummy to 2 gorgeous girls and I thought that was how things would continue.....until T invited me to breakfast one morning in 2007 which served as the introduction to the C years.
From Day one we hit it off as if we'd always known each other. I'd truly found my North Star. We started to plan for a future together, in the belief that I wasn't able to have children. Over Christmas in 2008 I started to feel quite unwell, 12 weeks later after being tested for just about everything possible, my Dr decided to do a pregnancy test - just in case! In September we welcomed C to the world and our worlds changed forever.
He arrived relatively quietly, although gave us all a scare in the hours before he finally arrived. But the impact he's had on our lives has been far from quiet. He led us to the decision to return to the U.K. (well return for me, emigration for T) so we could raise him close to family - something I never thought I would do. Raising a child is far from easy, but we've been very lucky with him so far. He's all the things I hoped for - kind, smart, athletic, loving, caring, and 100% boy. The past 7 years have flown by and I'd like it to just slow down a fraction. We've created so many memories of a different kind since he arrived, we now do a lot of the things I loved from my childhood...and so much more.
Here's to a lifetime more of memories as we continue to enjoy this journey together.
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