Fires and friends!

I have just come back from a weekend in Wales for Mum’s birthday. My family is now spread out all over the country – my sister and Dad are both down in Cornwall , Mum is in Wales, my brother is in Plymouth and I’m based in Bristol at the moment. Dad keeps threatening to move abroad but I doubt that will happen if we’ve got anything to do with it!

So, where was I? Mum and the three of us had just packed up and moved out of the family home. I have to say I don’t really remember a lot about the first bit of living in the new house, other than there being a lot of boxes. I also remember our cat, Ruby, who must have been in his late teens at the time, was very unhappy about it all, although I’m sure he was pleased we had left the dog behind. Mum has never been one for mess, so I imagine she would have got the house into order pretty quickly. It was a struggle for her to begin with - a single mother, with three young children. She had married Dad fairly young and probably wouldn’t have remembered what it was like being on her own. The house we moved into was rented and had no central heating. It was a lovely house, but small, and very cold in the winter. Mum suffered from arthritis pretty badly at this time and I remember her having to lug wood and coal about for the fire every night after she got home. However, she has an iron will and a heart of gold, and I know her number one priority would have been keeping us warm.

At this time, I was only a year into high school. I was away at boarding school, and remember having to go back to school for only my second term and to tell everyone that my parents were splitting up. It was hard, and I don’t really think I properly understood what it meant, other than we wouldn’t be living with Dad and we had moved house. I think being away from home really helped provide some stability for me, and the friends that I made at school whilst my parents were divorcing, are still my best friends – I don’t know what I would do without them. Even though we were only 11 at the time, they were so supportive, always eager to take my mind off the unpleasant things that were happening at home. Looking back, it’s amazing how intuitive young children are! I am truly grateful to all my friends who were there to listen to me moan and to hug me when I cried. I have to say that my friendships are one of the most important things that came out of my parents’ split – I honestly believe that if I hadn’t been going through such a hard time, I wouldn’t have opened up to them, and we wouldn’t be as close as we are today – I’m sure some of you reading won’t understand that, but I really think my friendships are stronger as a result.

Tomorrow, I am going out for dinner with Lydia, who I still refer to as my “best friend”. I haven’t seen her since November as she now lives in London, and although we don’t speak as much as we probably should, I know that if I ever needed her she would drop everything for me. I have known her since I was 11, and she is one of the few people my age I know who have parents who are still married.