Wordsley, Stourbridge, England: 8 degrees, cold, rainy; a shitty day.
It’s time to head to the north of England to meet my brother and his family after over 20 years.
I set the alarm for 6:00 a.m., but I didn’t get up until 7:00 a.m. I worked on the computer, saved my work, finished packing my suitcase, and then woke my mother. We had a quick tea, and I left home a little after 9.
My mother insisted on taking me to the train station in Wolverhampton, I was a little worried for her driving back alone because the day was very shitty. Heavy rain, dark grey skies and a lot of wind.
She dropped me off in front of the train station with a lot of spare time to waste. I had a terrible coffee at Costa, and then I finally went to the platform to catch the train. When it arrived, it was 5 minutes late. I boarded it and found my reserved seat. It was full, I had to stick my suitcase where my legs should have been and put my feet on top.
I had only five minutes to change trains at Stockport. I also needed to go to another platform where my train would arrive. I literally had to run from one platform to another, but it was no use; the Sheffield train had already departed.
The next train would arrive in half an hour, and I had to stand the entire trip to Sheffield. I had lost my reserved seat on the train before, and finally arrived at Sheffield train station at exactly 1:45 p.m. An old, beautiful station with touches of modernisation, it is pretty impressive; it shows how Sheffield was a serious industrial town during the Industrial Revolution.
I found my brother looking down from the suspended Passarella above. I met my 17-year-old nephew, Luke, for the first time, and it feels a little crazy and ridiculous that I’ve only just met him when he’s already a teenager.
I hugged my nephew, and I tried to hug my brother, but he seemed to shut/shun me off. I thought it was strange, I couldn’t quite put my finger on why, so I didn’t give it much importance. My brother was more interested in rushing to get to the car that he thought was parked in the wrong place and could get towed away.
It was good to see them both; it has been so long since I have been out of England, and also to see my mother, brother, and his family.
Typically, my brother wanted us to go directly to his local pub. After 10 minutes in the car, we arrived at probably the most run down pub in Sheffield it was a complete shithole. I thought to myself, how could my brother take me to such a terrible place after us not seeing each other for so long?
From outside in the car park, with its cracked, broken and uneven tarmac, you could see broken windows at the front of the pub. Inside, everything was tatty, worn, or broken, and downright filthy, again, a complete shithole.
I bought the drinks, and I think it was because I complained about the place that he decided to take me to another pub, which was much better than the previous one, and at least it was clean. After just one drink and a little small talk—nothing profound, meaningful, affectionate, or brotherly—we went to his home.
When we entered his house, we were suddenly greeted by his wonderful pride and joys, his two Labrador gun dogs, one black and the other chocolate. Knowing they would appreciate it, I had brought some treats up with me to Sheffield as he had mentioned having two Labradors.
After giving them the treats, they seemed to have calmed down a little. The younger black dog was initially more suspicious of me, but eventually, he started to warm up to me if I didn’t suddenly flinch or move.
When his wife, Debbie, arrived, followed by my niece Charlotte, the eldest child of my brother, I gave everyone a surprise Amazon gift. I also gave my nephew and niece some money, and everything went well from there.
My brother was drinking beer while I had wine. Later in the evening, he began to get a bit aggressive in terms of the conversation, trying to provoke me. I think the drink had taken effect, revealing his true self. It was nothing too serious or inconvenient; sometimes my brother is a little too sensitive, emotional and jealous.
I realised I had to be careful about what I said, as everything I mentioned seemed to be misinterpreted, making me feel as though I was walking on eggshells. It became clear that I needed to remain quiet and just let him talk, because otherwise, things could have escalated.
We enjoyed a lovely, simple English dinner that my brother had prepared, as Debbie had worked late and my brother was already at home. I offered to do the washing up, but my brother was evidently prouder to show me that they had a dishwasher, so it was not necessary.
It was clear to me that the house, the new cars, and the latest electrical domestic appliances were essential references for him. For me, this is not a criticism; it’s merely an observation. Materially speaking, such things have never been very important to me, but they are for him.
I think this is one of our major differences as adults: what is really important and what is not. After relaxing in the living room for a while, we finally went over to Steve’s, the neighbour where I would stay for the next couple of days or so.
I had met Steve in the past when he was travelling in South America. My brother had told him to look me up when he was in Rio, and he did. I took him to some places in both Copacabana and Flamengo while he was in Rio before he went on to other cities in South America. Nalva had cooked him a meal before continuing his trip, which he greatly appreciated.
It’s amusing how life comes full circle when, in the past, we helped Steve in South America, and now, probably ten years later, he’s reciprocating for me; how good is that?
Steve obligingly showed me my bedroom, which was nicely decorated but very cold. Obviously, I’m not accustomed to the English weather anymore, especially when the central heating is off.
This is something I’ve noticed about English people: they don’t need a lot of clothes to stay warm. Where my mother lives, I have seen school children going to school with no coats, just a shirt and a blazer, and they were perfectly fine.
However, I could feel the cold in my bones. Obviously, this is the human being who is an animal, and all animals know how to adapt or eventually adapt; however, that night, I felt the cold.
It has been a long day and an interesting trip so far.
In bed by 11:30 p.m.
Thank you.
Thanks for reading this blog post. Please explore my other posts and share your thoughts in the comments section.
Richard
