Linda Rawden ch8


CHARLEY AND JOE
In the summer of 2003, Charley and Joe brought the children over to the UK to visit. Joe had to negotiate with his ex-wife in order to take the children out of the country. The day they arrived there was a complete blackout on the east coast including New York. As Joe was in charge of all the IT in the various offices he, therefore, had a serious problem on arrival. We carried on the tour as planned showing the children all the landmarks and various things to do in London. Joe came with us but had to spend most of his time standing outside different places resolving major problems at home. One of the hardest things was keeping an eye on the children when crossing the road; they just automatically looked the wrong way! We were concerned mainly that they would not like English food but, to our amazement, they really loved it. Especially the bread, pancakes, tea and, believe it or not, our ketchup, so much nicer than the stuff back home!! They ready loved getting into the black cabs, so different to NY where the cabbies didn't really speak the language, did not know where they were going and the back seats were very small and could only take 3 people at a push. The joy for them was standing on the pavement to hail a cab, the look on their faces when the cab actually stopped, was priceless. We explained how all cabbies were required to take The Knowledge and thus always knew the quickest way to get to any destination. After most trips, we would find one or the other, or both, or all three asking questions of the cabbie, such as; 'How long did it take you to pass The Knowledge' and 'Do you know all the streets in London?' I must say the cabbies always had time for them. It was definitely a highlight of the trip. At Christmas, in 2004, our best friends invited us to Cabo san Lucas in Mexico. They had rented an impressive mansion on the top of the hill overlooking the ocean. Charley and Joe bought each of the children a small suitcase as a Christmas present, full of summer clothes. This really confused them as it was freezing cold in New York. They were told to get up very early the next day to go on vacation to Mexico. Three very excited children joined us in Cabo. The view was amazing looking out over our infinity pool at the ocean. We saw the young whales being brought back at two years of age to the place where they had been born. The mothers left them at that stage in order to mate again. There was a great beach and we loved using the jetskis and going on wonderful fishing trips. We ate the best fish ever caught by Joe and cooked on the barbeque. It was a truly memorable holiday.

The following summer, Charley and Joe returned to London for Charley's graduation from the Open University with a Masters in Business Studies and Administration. It had been incredibly hard for her having a full-time job, emmigrating, meeting Joe, buying a house, and finding time to study. It was a wonderful celebration with the awards taking place at the Festival Hall. Unlike the others, she could invite as many people as she wanted to the ceremony. It was quite a casual affair with each recipient getting a huge round of applause from their supporters. Charley was no different. A huge roar went up and her godfather emitted the loudest whistle, which made her laugh. We all made our way to the Savoy to celebrate. It was a fabulous do, Charley had invited the people that had been supportive throughout the five years it took her to achieve this degree.

Towards the end of that year, Charley and Joe decided to relocate to LA. Joe had been offered a promotion to work in the LA office and the company that Charley worked for had an empty office a bit further down the coast where they happily let her set up a new branch.

The problem was the children because until then the arrangement was for Joe to have them every other weekend. It was agreed that they would be offered the choice to either go and live with Daddy and Charley and to spend every holiday with Mum or vice versa. The eldest daughter chose Daddy, the middle one chose Mummy, and the youngest also chose Daddy. Their mother was not happy with that and opposed the decision.

She insisted the youngest would remain at home with her. They spent quite a long time finding a suitable property, and it wasn't easy as Charley remained in the old home to sell it and Joe was dashing about LA looking at houses. Once this was sorted out, they packed their possessions into a big truck and followed on in Joe's truck with overnight essentials, valuable items and two cats. Three days later they arrived at the new house and waited for the rest of their belongings to arrive. We were invited to join them for Christmas, and although it was a long flight,11.5 hours for just 2 weeks, it was well worth it for the sunshine. As the youngest two children were with Daddy for the Christmas break, although short, we enjoyed the time with them and the eldest daughter for the rest of the time. We returned in the summer and went to Disneyworld and Universal Studios, and Sea World in San Diego; the main attractions.