The Clan siege of Blackpool!

Peter & I xxx

What a lovely surprise! After, frankly, a pretty crappy and worrying 7 days, my dad phoned up on Friday night and said "Peter is here!"

Now I thought that Peter was visiting next week (see my head has been all over the place recently). The last time I saw Peter was at my Mum's funeral, and to be honest, my head was so messed up that day, it was all a terrible blur...all I knew was that he and Trica had made it down, and it was such a comfort them being there, but conversations, etc, I cannot recall.

I fondly remember much much happier times, back to the early 1980s, when he, Tricia (Dad's niece, my cousin) and wee Estelle (3-4 yrs younger than me) visited us in Blackpool a few times. Peter is so full of life, such fun, and a fabulous character lol. Wee Estelle and I used to play together, and I had so much fun when they visited.

So Friday night, from being exhausted, I became seriously over-excited! Darren was laughing at me...after the initial shock I was bouncing around the livingroom saying "They're here! They're here! Oh my God Peter's just a mile away oh he's here!!!"

We quickly grabbed some food, and, although I was supposed to be resting after my appointment at the Chiro's (which went well by the way...just have to rest and have some more nerve treatment until I see the GP Tuesday), instead we stomped round to my dad's house, where Peter was staying in my Mum's old room. Estelle, hubby and toddler Ross stayed at a hotel. I know that after my Mum died, I cleared most of the room, but there were bits and pieces Dad wanted to keep just how it was. I think it was therapeutic for my dad to tidy for Peter- a good and positive reason for such a fabulous man of the family.


Peter hasn't changed abit- I want to know what moisturiser he uses! He was just how I remembered him from my childhood; handsome, full of fun, stories and energy. D and I took round a bottle of Ron Miel (that lovely honey rum from Gran Canaria) and we spent a lovely night chatting away. Dad, as usual, re-told stories we've all heard 50 times, but we didn't care, we just had a cracking evening in.



The only thing that a tad upset me, was when Peter mentioned this chap called Fergus quite a few times, who runs a pub down south near my Aunt Mina. It transpired that this cracking guy is infact my cousin, and my Dad had never mentioned him before. Shell-shocked is an understatement. I know that my Dad was always a sod for not taking me to see O'Neill family in Scotland when I was wee or growing up, but he'd never mentioned this cousin of mine before. I felt quite embarrassed and I even felt in the wrong, even though it wasn't my fault. I didn't actually meet some of my O'Neill family until when I was 25, at a funeral. I have a cousin Simone, also born on the 11th Sept I think, that he always used to promise to take me to visit when I was small, but I have never met. For some reason, Dad never managed to find the time to do that with me. So my bond with Peter, Trica and my childhood friend Estelle, has always been held ever-close to my heart.

I was hoping to meet up with Estelle and everyone Saturday night, so we could all catch up, and she could meet Darren, and I could meet her husband, Colin, properly and 2 yr old Ross. Sadly, I was just too tired, I'd overdone it on Friday I suppose lol, and so Dad and Peter went up to Estelle's hotel. They had a cracking night by the sounds of it lol. I just rested and D and I stayed in.

I knew that they were going back home on Sunday, so come Hell or high water, I was going to make it round to Dad's to see them lol. Estelle was picking up Peter before heading home, so that was a great opportunity to catch up and see her again, for the first time in 24 years. My wee second cousin Estelle is looking fantastic, and still has that lovely personality and is now a beautiful woman, and her son and Colin are great. You can tell they're still a close family, and it's great to see. To be honest I was really disappointed that I couldn't have more time with them, but Peter and I have swapped mobile numbers and the poor soul now has my email address and this Blog address...so we're definitely going to be able to keep in contact more often- and I'll be able to introduce D to fabulous Trica too!

Peter, me and Dad xx

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