Jean and Myra!

Went out with Myra and Jean for an Indian last night.  They have been very good, paying for me, all the time they are staying here, not that I expect it.  After another wonderful curry at Dream Corner we went for drinks at Zest.  It is a shame I couldn't show them anymore of Gran Alacant, but with no access to a car, it is very difficult. Myra has emphysema and finds it difficult to walk at the best of times.  When you consider the mountainous terrain in the region, it is virtually impossible to get around, without transport.  

We all drunk way too much last night.  Myra and Jean brought a few jugs of sangria, on top of beer and vodka, so I was really feeling the pain, this morning.  Both Jean and Myra have been continually impressed, by how well everyone has treated them in Gran Alacant.  Everyone has been welcoming and have made their brief time here enjoyable. They both wanted to thank Zest and all the staff, in Sierra Mar, for going out of their way to make them feel at home.  Like myself, they find the community in GA a real breath of fresh air.  This kind of place is rare, certainly doesn't exist in Britain anymore and really does open one's eyes to the sincerity of expats who live in this little part of the Costa Blanca!

I am going to miss Jean and Myra, when they leave for Benidorm tomorrow, it has been a pleasure having them stay here.  I have known them both for many years; they are the good ones we left behind.  We have all had a chance to catch up and discuss the future, which for myself and Darrell, still remains uncertain.  Both of them can see how much happier I am, living in Gran Alacant.  In fact I don't think they can even remember, the last time I was this happy.  The sad fact of life here, however, is that it does remain hard.  The job situation is particularly deficient and flawed, so both of us, are doing what we can, to make ends meet at the moment; Darrell living in Australia, will go a long way to securing our future.  Not something we wish to endure for the long term, but something that could work quite well for a number of years, until we can both afford to buy a place in Spain outright.

Friends like Jean and Myra are certainly hard to come by.  As I have got older, I have become more grateful for those friends I have had in my life for many years.  We both saw Myra, Jean's sister, just before we left for Spain.  In all honesty, I hadn't seen Jean for many years, probably eight or more.  When you have good friendships, you don't have to live in and out of each other's pockets, everyday. We have restarted where we left off, just like it was yesterday, that's exactly how it should be.

I employed Jean in a business I acquired, about fifteen years ago, she was a chef and a bloody good one at that.  Previously I worked with Jean as her Manager, in similar circumstances.  We were always quite close, ending up in all sorts of situations.  To be perfectly honest, we used to get in loads of trouble, having food fights after work, even causing hundreds of pounds worth of damage to a console at work, on one occasion.
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I remember one specific event, when Jean had gone to Makro, to get supplies for the cafe she was Managing, well I was in one of my mischievous moods, which was always a bad sign.  I waited for about half an hour, knowing that Jean would have almost completed the shop and phoned up the customer service desk at Makro.  I made up some cock and ball story about there being some emergency and could they do an announcement over the tannoy, getting Jean to the desk.  For the life of me I can't remember the joke I played, but it was enough for Jean to feel extremely embarrassed at the desk, leave all the shopping behind, and with rage in her eyes, try to kill me when she got back.

I used to play jokes on  her all the time and we had the best laugh at work.  Obviously today, we would be sacked on the spot, but back in the day, we just seemed to get away with it.  These were fun times; I have many fond memories, when my job was enjoyable and I worked with some of the craziest people I have ever met.  
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Since our time working together, myself and Jean spent long periods when we didn't see each other, but of course remained friends.  I  also met and became friends with her sister Myra and got to know her lovely son and daughter, who are a credit to her. These are the friends akin to family, the good ones, the ones that never took, always gave and represented real friendship, over many years.  These are the friends we were sad to leave behind; welcoming to our new home, whenever they are passing.

Southampton holds many memories for Darrell and myself.  Until Jean and Myra arrived, I was only remembering the bad; the precursor to our arrival in Spain. Having one's memories jogged, by two friends, about the finest, unsurpassed occasions, the wonderful reflections and the times that were not tarnished has been worth it.  Up until they arrived, I tried to block out my life in that place.  Not all the years I spent there were bad and it has taken two dear friends to evoke the best of the past, that I had locked away in that dark recess of my mind, where all such trauma is stored!