See you next month

I'm flying to the UK next month and I am pretty sure that it is going to be a busy and emotional week.

I last visited 'home', or at least my birth country, in May, and there was bright sunshine and the temperature was in the 20's - the week before and after my trip. British weather is mostly unpredictable, except when it comes to December through to February, where it is pretty much guaranteed to be freezing, shit, dark, 'I need a holiday', and cold. And so when I visit again in 3 weeks or so, at least I know what to expect.

But before I depart, I plan to see my daughter and my grandad. She doesn't live in Manchester, where the flight lands/departs, and so the first evening I'll likely be staying at my stepdads. This is in my home town of Macclesfield, and so there is a possibility of catching up with some school friends, probably over a couple of drinks and a few games of pool. I'll have turned 40 two days earlier, a good reason for them to get a 'pass' from their wives on a school night. I'll be taking the train to Nottingham on the Thursday afternoon, and so maybe the 'couple' and 'few' might change a little.

I spent almost 20 years in Nottingham - studying, working, partying, in no particular order :) It's a small city when compared to Manchester, London, Liverpool, etc, but has two football clubs (with grounds about 50 meters apart), a castle, a river, and two universities, and so in term time it's well populated and a good day/night out. This time around it's unlikely I'll be 'out', and there's more chance I'll be meeting up with friends at their homes. It's easier to chat, and they'll be a kettle close by.

My daughter lives just outside the city, but from the friends house I'll be staying at for a couple of nights, not too far at all. And this friend happens to live across the road from the train station - this is a bonus when you are couch surfing and moving around. Hopefully I'll get all day Saturday with her, I've booked my reservation (a whatsapp message to her), and so should be good to come back into the city, and do some activities. Bowling, Xmas shopping, maybe even some crazy indoor golf if it's particularly cold. Her mum used to joke that every time she text our daughter or myself to see what we were up to, we always seemed to be in Starbucks or Costa. Blatantly not true.... but they do have pretty good chocolate biscuits and cakes.

The last time we saw each other, the weekend was great, it was just when it came to saying goodbye again that things got tough. I'm going to try to aim for the hug I got then at the start of the day this time - she didn't let me go for a good minute. Six months older, perhaps a little wiser, and hopefully a little bit closer to saying 'yes' to a trip over here. We'll see, right mum?

At the end of the day I'll be getting back on a train back to Macclesfield. I'd like to stay for Sunday but there is someone else that I really need to see. My grandad recently got admitted to an old folks home, I'm not sure 'admitted' is the right word, but basically he's at the point where he can't take care of himself any more, and needs 24 hour care. He's been borderline for a while, but yeah, it's definitely time now. Obviously he wasn't keen, and said to my uncle and mother when they went with him to the first 'home' last month, 'you cant leave me to die here'. Brutal. They took him back home, but after numerous incidents there, had to try again somewhere else.

This new place which I'll be visiting him with my uncle on Sunday is supposedly a lot nicer. They've even got him involved in doing exercises. I can't imagine it's a 10 k jog, but every little helps I guess. His memory is going, especially the short term stuff. I'm really hoping there's some of the older stuff there which I can help re-jog. My grandad taught me to ride a push bike, and he also took the family to Menorca for my first holiday abroad. Those two gifts I shall hopefully never forget, and I'm going to fit them into the conversation and thank him again. Without being too morbid, there is a chance that this will be the last time I'll him, and after missing saying 'goodbye' to my dad, I don't want to be in that position again.

It's a 5:55 am flight back on the Monday. Hopefully I can make it feel like a holiday and create good use of the time I get to spend with loved ones. And I wish the same for you guys too.

See you soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx