5 Years Ago Today

I was in bed (well, I was on the couch...my ex and I had split up, but due to finances stayed in the same house, I got the couch) and the phone rang. I had no clue whowould be calling me at 6.30 in the morning and when I looked at call display I wondered who would be calling long distance at this very ungodly hour.

It was my cousin Thomas calling from Belfast (well, just outside Belfast, too small a place to say where) and he said to me "Can you come over next week?"

He had a free ticket for me. He was working for British Airways at the time, oddly enough he was let go due to downsizing while I was there. The ticket was from Vancouver to Belfast via London. So all I had to do was make my way to Vancouver and back from there again. Not too bad at all.

I was due to fly out to Vancouver on Friday the 14th and spend the night with my friend Lisa and would leave for Belfast on the Saturday evening.

And then September 11th happened. And I wondered if I would get to go at all. I was hugely judged by some of the parents at achool for my decision to go. One mum said that they had friends that were due to leave for Spain and had cancelled it because of 9/11. I said that there was no way I was passing up a free trip to Ireland and anyway, wasn't it reasonable to believe that the safest time to travel would be after something terrible like that? Extra security and all.

So off I went. I was only supposed to go for a week, but ended up spending a month. I will never regret going, even though I missed Taylor and Liam like crazy. My cousin spent most of his time drinking so I was left to my own devices most of the time. I went to London for a weekend and down to Dublin for a 20th anniversary rally of the Hunger Strikes. I was only supposed to go for the day but missed the last bus back to Belfast as I was too busy reading. Eejit, I am. I was flying to Birmingham the next day to spend a week with my Nan and Grandad and I literally was down to my last 10 pounds. I was totally fucked. I could get a hold of no one I knew in Belfast, I couldn't find the phone number of the one person I knew of in Dublin and every hotel was booked as Ireland played Holland that day. Not that I would have got far with what little money I had and an over the limit credit card. No, I was going to call either my mother or grandad to bail me out. In the end I ended up finding a room in a hostel that was also a hotel. I think it was called Brown's. I don't even know where it was, just that I walked for 3 hours looking for somewhere.

I also got to meet my great aunt Emma, a woman I have always been fascinated by. Not only because we share a name and she was the only member of my father's family that my mother actually liked but because she was blinded by a British soldier who shot her and oddly enough, really showed no bitterness. She also met Mother Teresa which I was very impressed with when I went through my v. brief religious phase when I was little.

Most importantly of course, was seeing my Nan and Grandad. It was the last time I saw my Nan as she had her stroke a few months later. And the chances of seeing my Grandad again are slim to none.

Anyways, I had a fantastic time and I spend most of September and early October saying "...years ago on this day I was here or here." Quite pathetic!