May and June this year were two of the most hectic months I can remember, certainly since my semi-retirement almost 10 years ago.
As foreseen last time, May was dominated by the visit to UK for the wedding of a niece, Faye, younger daughter of brother Tim. It was a spectacular occasion and there are many photos on Facebook (where else?) as evidence. The week had begun with a visit to see Gerry and Judy (best friend from school and spouse) and it was great catching up with them over a Chinese (yes, really) dinner in Beaconsfield. Gerry and I even found the bench in Kew Gardens dedicated to my Mum and sister Lynda. Good spot Gerry. After an important business meeting in King’s Cross railway station, I arrived in Hatfield and went to see my best friend from college, Ken. Unfortunately he was in a bad way suffering from dementia, I hope he could recognise my voice in the one and a half hours I spent at bedside. His courageous wife Lynda was able to join me, Tim and his wife Ann for dinner that evening. Sadly, Ken passed away in June. I will always remember his great sense of humour and the fun we had before this terrible illness set in.
June began with a flying visit to Thailand, with my ex Marion, to celebrate the birthday of two of our grandchildren Liora (5) and Alyssa (11) and see our eldest son Vincent, his wife Emi, and our grandson from them Joshua. They live well in a big house, and are about to move to a bigger one! Don’t send photos to anyone in Hong Kong, you’ll start a riot.
Then came the history-making. On the initiative of my daughter Tiffany, who had gone on-line to secure the tickets, the two of us flew to Moscow, then travelled by train to Nizhny Novgorod to watch England thrash Panama 6-1 in the World Cup. What a day, a special memory to treasure forever. Wife Fanny and son Alex also joined us in Russia for tours of Moscow and St Petersburg. An exhausting but fun trip, and no more travel planned for the time being. Need to conserve energy for watching the rest of the World Cup. Come on England!
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