Just a few days before we were to fly off to San Diego, I got an unexpected text message from my Aunt Linda saying that she had been talking to Nan and Grandad (her parents) about being back in touch with me. They wanted to meet me again!!! This made me very nervous - this big argument had been between my father and them and at some points I had been cited as the one to blame.....in other words as a scapegoat by my father! I didn't know what to expect.
Even though I had been worried about meeting Lin and the girls, there had been a few minor episodes of contact over the years like a facebook message here or there. However, it had been 15 solid years apart from my Nan and Grandad and I didn't know how I was thought of by them.
Anyway on the 15th August 2010, Kevin and I made the nerve wracking journey down to Kent to Lin's house to meet my grandparents! We got there and Lin could see how nervous I was, I was shaking. I tentatively walked into the front room and saw Grandad sitting there and I just ran into his arms and burst into tears. He looked exactly the same! "Hello Min" he said....wow 15 years since I'd heard those words. I still don't really know what it means but he called me that for as long as I can remember.
I went into the kitchen to find Nanny and there she was having her cigarette as she always had done. She was a lot smaller than I remembered...well I was fully grown by now LOL. It was so lovely feeling her arms around me again and in that moment it certainly didn't feel like it had been 15 years since the last hug! Straight away she said I looked like Lucy! Many people have said so since, although many have said that Hayley and I look alike! :)
The day went well, lots of chatting and catching up and telling them all about my life and career and our wedding in a few days. They seemed to like Kevin straight away, well they all had which made me feel better. Even though Kev and I were a firm couple by then, it was still so lovely to see my family accepting him like his family had accepted me!
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I love this picture - Lucy didn't want to get her slippers wet! :)
Nanny and Grandad left to get home in the afternoon as Grandad doesn't like driving in the dark. He said something to Kev that has always stayed with me....."look after my Grandaughter, Son!"....just hearing that made me fill me up! I had always wanted to hear those words.
I couldn't believe I was now back in touch with all my lovely family again. Something I thought would never ever happen!
It was so lovely to see Andy and the girls together. Hayley and Lucy were getting older and more independent but they still snuggled up to their Dad on the sofa and fell asleep with their heads on his shoulder! They would sit next to him on their facebook or on their phones and didn't worry about their privacy. They are all such a close family and the girls often comment about how they could never leave home and be away from their Mum and Dad! It touched my heart, it was so lovely to see how a normal family should function. Even the girls' relationship with each other, of course they argued as all siblings do but I could see a strong bond there, something my sister and I had never had. They were quite fond of each other really and it was lovely to see. Seeing daily life like this just made me realise even more how wrong my 'family' were for so long!
That evening, we all went to meet Hayley from work and went for dinner. Again, a lovely night and atmosphere! I was so happy! What a way to spend our last weekend before jetting off to California!
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