Swavesey

[Mark] Sadly, 2 days before our arrival in Swavesey, we received the news that George Hendry, Paul’s father, had died. He was diagnosed with colon cancer in December 2006, shortly before the family’s trip out to South Africa. His whole family was with him, including his daughter Julia who flew out at the last minute. After returning to England he had radiotherapy and surgery and never seemed to recover properly after that. Testament to his popularity and standing in the community were the 300 plus people who were at his funeral. Heart-wrenching it was; but at the same time heart warming. Beryl, his wife, has been amazing through this time.

My parents – Pam and Cliff -had arrived at Heathrow airport earlier in the day. Busy roads delayed our arrival but we eventually arrived in Swavesey and after a quick hello and bite to eat, we all went to see the Swavesey Village College Variety Show: Tom and Jack both played parts in this concert which showcased musical and dance talent in the school.

[JM] The cousins were all so excited to see each other again having last been together over Christmas back in South Africa. Our girls just loved the relative independence the Hendry kids have living in a small English village: Jack and our girls would take Milly, their labradoodle for walks on the village green and across fields and down country lanes. One afternoon Jack and Gabi flew a kite on the green. Kate took Chloe and Jaime to Cambridge with her on the bus and they went shopping on their own – quite successfully too! Jack managed to buy a secondhand playstation at the church fair and then gave his old game boy to our girls who were thrilled!

My dear friend, Cheryl Hemingway, drove all the way from London with her darling little baby girl, Fleur, to see us on Sunday. It is always so special to see old friends again and I wish we’d had more time together.

The five of us went into Cambridge one day and explored this beautiful city with its colleges and chapels. We went on a (chauffeured) punt on the Cam and saw the wonderful historic sites along the river. The girls and I then went into King’s College Chapel with its magnificent stained glass windows and vaulted ceilings. Later the same day Mark and the girls went to watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix while I (JM) shopped. It turned out to be window shopping only as the prices were exorbitant; we have found the prices of food and clothing in Europe and the UK to be completely unaffordable!

[Mark] Mark Slack popped in to say hello one evening – he’s well known in the area as a successful urogynaecologist. This is the way of medicine these days; sub-specializing has become essential as the amount of knowledge has broadened exponentially. When I was considering subspecializing in Paediatric Oncology, I was told that to get jobs in good units (overseas) one needs to bring a little more to the table- something like molecular paediatric oncology, or paediatric neuro-oncology! That adds a few more years to training, something I don’t have an abundance of – professionally speaking!

The day before departure. We spent a few hours in St Ives with Mark’s parents and Beryl. They’ll be spending time together while Bridget and family go on holiday to France – curiously enough, also to Les Gets! It’ll be some time before we see the South African families again.

One of Paul’s friends, Luke has been installing their kitchen and offered to drive us to Heathrow to catch the transatlantic flight. We’d been pondering how to get this flight – we had to be there at about 5.30 am. We couldn’t get a later booking; we could catch a bus from Cambridge for about £90, or call a cab for about £129. Paul and Bridget offered to take us, as did another friend Mike Fox. We took Luke up on the offer as he was happy to sleep in the back of the VW Transporter while we drove. We left at 3.45 am, driving in rain a lot of the way, using the GPS as a navigator. We got there safely, and caught the American Airlines flight to Chicago, and then the connection to Orlando.