Where has the time gone? 2005 she was born the first child of my closest sibling my sister.
2005 was a special year for me, I married my husband. After years of going on dates that led to nowhere. We found each other.
I remember my younger sister had met the love of her life. She moved out of our shared flat and I lived alone for the first time in my life. I learnt a lot about myself in that time – I was happy in my own skin.
I took my niece on holiday to Lake Garda, and I thought I could avoid expensive trips with the holiday reps. Armed with my map and bus and train timetables, I started to plan after what felt like hours I said, ‘planes, trains and automobiles!’ We roared with laughter and booked the trip to Venice with the rep (know when you’re beaten). The trip was fantastic apart from almost being left by the coach when my niece desperately needed the toilet. We went to the rep and asked if it was okay – now we were the only people of colour on the trip, so our absence would be obvious (you’d think!) On our way back to the coach we noticed the engine was revved up and I’m convinced it was moving. When we got the coach, all we could do was side eye and kiss our teeth when she asked, ‘Are we all here?’
In fact, this memory reminds me that when my niece was 2 years old, we returned to Lake Garda. She was so cute in her Jelly sandals and floral dresses. There was one problem with these sandals they made her fall over all the time. Every meal she slipped and there was broken glass or crockery. Eventually, we asked for a plastic cup – my mum who loves her food said, ‘Can’t we have just one meal!’ Yes, it became tense.
I loved how my mum could strike up a conversation with anyone. Within a few minutes, she could return to us with the man or woman’s life story (that was her superpower).
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