Hugs were invented to let people know you love them without having to say anything
As we check out of the Sopwell my excitement builds again, just as I know I will see Kim again, my next hug will be for someone I met while on my OE in 1997. It has been a friendship from afar for over 16 years. Anne calls me Little Sis and I call her Big Sis. She opened her doors to me when I travelled and I often used her address as a base when I travelled back and forth from London. We only have a couple of days in London and despite having many offers of beds we know my body needs a break and Anne and Kevin, with their furry babies Molly and Terry are the perfect retreat to soak it all in. As they pull up it is just like the movies, squells of delight, true smiles from ear to ear and the long hug that says everything without uttering a single word.
The boys sit back and smile too, Anne jumps in the back and we non stop yabble yabble all the way to a country pub for lunch. I am so impressed to see salad and salmon on the menu and we sit back and catch up all afternoon in the most idylic setting – the pub is called the Cricketers and is dog friendly so we feel quite at home seeing all sorts of furry friends coming in after their walk in the common.
We are feeling nice and relaxed and my body is holding up well. Riwai decided to put a call out to everyone in the UK to meet tomorrow at a pub for a Sunday afternoon catch up. We are only in London for the weekend and we know it will be a big ask but it was the only way we could do it. We have a few yes’s so that is Sunday all planned.
As we are driving home, Kevin asks what our preference is for dinner. Riwai has been an amazing support crew not just here but over the last few years so the least I can do is let him pick dinner – knowing full well it will be his favourite and my least favourite Indian! Apparently no London trip is complete without a Curry and a Pint!
We have a great dinner and I must say the food was pretty damn good. An early night and a big sleep in the next day was just what we both needed. Ready to go again.
Another round of those perfect long hugs where you don’t have to say anything. We are so blessed to catch up with everyone, we were sad we didn’t have more time for those we missed, but all the same it is a great day.
We are due to leave on the Eurostar tomorrow…. but Kevin and Anne think this should be our – Arrghfeckit Tour – They both have tomorrow off and have concocted a plan they think we don’t want to miss…… and before we know it we have rebooked the train for Wednesday.