With our UK trip well into the second half, our time in Yorkshire is coming to a close. We have so many lovely catch-ups with friends from various stages of my life or career and today has been no exception with friends going back over 30 years. Yesterday would have to go down as one of the most enjoyable days of my journey. Back in June I wrote to some friends of my parents to see if they had shared anything with them regarding my condition when I was born, not in my wildest dreams would the response have been as amazing as it has turned out to be. This couple, Stephen and Yvonne Prescott have so embraced Stephanie and welcomed her and Denise into their lives it almost brings a tear to my eyes, not only welcoming us into their home to stay with them but hosting a very enjoyable party for us to allow people who we would probably not have had the chance to catch up with to come and meet us, many of these people I have known all of my life but lost touch with for one reason or another, others I have met in the course of my career at the various dealerships over the last 35 years but every one of them had something in common, they were all happy for me, happy in the fact that I am now at peace with my inner self and am finally the person I have wanted to be since I was 12 years old. One of the most amazing things about the group of friends present at the party is the age range of the people there, quite incredibly the age range was from 89 years old down to 16 months and as much as my beautiful great niece would not remember much about the afternoon it was lovely to meet her and I am very greatful for every single person who made the effort to come and meet us. It will be the highlight of the holiday for me and something to remember for many years to come.
We have just one more couple to see while we are in Yorkshire then it’s down to Chelmsford to meet up with a very good friend who I have known for over 30 years but not before catching up with another near Leicester whom I have also known for a similar length of time on the way south. As with most of the people at the party they have known me as Robin but have yet to meet Stephanie, they have however been very supportive over the last 6 months or so and I am very much looking forward to catching up with both of them. From there we travel to Wales to spend some time with Denise’s Mum, hopefully the weather will be kind to us so we can make the most of the time we have there taking her to visit various people and catching up with a few jobs around the place which I always enjoy. A brief stay at West Chart will follow that, always a pleasure and a relaxing time in excellent company so a very pleasant end to our holiday.
By the time we leave the UK we will have met up with over 70 people, virtually all of these have met Stephanie for the first time in person so I guess to have just two or possibly three negative reactions is not too bad an average. It’s still disappointing that there are any (especially one who should have been the most supportive of all) but as the psychiatrist said “it is their problem not mine” so I will let it go. At the end of the day I am happier than I have ever been in my life and I’m not about to let anyone spoil that.