OMG how busy are we on Hazelbank. Only a week until the opening and we are trying to look organised. There is lots to tell you and lots of tears and donations are starting to flood in. I am truly touched. I will do a detailed blog on that tomorrow but suffice to say the butterfly tree has appeared in all its glory!
Thia blog is not about me today. I knew a lad in school called Kev and in the past few years we have regained contact through facebook. Kev writes wonderful messages on facebook and he is the person who can bring on the tears in seconds. It is his complete and utter devotion to his family that I think we all find so wonderful. I asked him to write from the heart and he has done just that. It is a complete honour to share this with you and a complete honour to count him as a friend.
A Day in my life
So where do I start? Well let’s go back to the beginning.
My name is Kevin and Fiona, being an old school friend, has
asked me to write a few words, about me, my work and my family. She said people
would like to read it. What about me I asked? I am just a simple man who loves
his family and does what he can to give them a good life. Yes, she said about
you, your work and stuff. So here’s how
I got to this point of writing a few lines for you to read.
The bags are now packed and ready in the hallway. An early
start is on the cards for me tomorrow morning. The taxi is booked for 04.30 and
then I will be off, away from my loved ones for well who knows with this job. I grab the lead, the family dog knows I am on
my travels again. Funny how they can
sense that changes are a foot. We take a
walk in the darkness, just a quick walk tonight Boy as its turning cold out
there. I do a final check on the house and turn off the lights and head up to
my bed.
The alarm goes off after what seems a very short night. I
try to keep the noise down as I head down stairs, the taxi will be here
soon. I kiss my wife gently on the cheek
and tell her I love her and will call you later, I whisper trying not to
disturb her, she turns and we say our goodbyes. Karen is sleeping at home tonight so I won’t disturb her We said our goodbyes last night and she
knows I will miss her as I tell her enough.
She may be my eldest and twenty two years old but she’s still my baby
girl.
I pass the open door to my son’s room – funny, I walk in
thinking he will be there but he’s not. I knew he would not be but I had to check . He
has been left home for over six months now with his work , we talk on Facebook
and txt but he is his own man now and dads are not too cool to have fussing in
his life. He knows if he needs me I will never let him down, like I told him
you will always be my son where ever your life takes you. The house is quiet as
I walk back downstairs. By the time they
wake up I will be just getting off my first plane of the day. I grab my bags
and head out side to await my taxi.
The taxi ride is the normal early morning silence, I flick
in and out of my phone Facebook, eBay, emails all the stuff we all do as a
daily ritual. How did we ever manage before phones? Well we all used to talk to
each other more but I suppose it’s the sign of the times. I stuff it in my
pocket we are here at the airport. A quick coffee and then we go through I am
soon boarding and heading to Aberdeen. The
sun is breaking through now another day is dawning and I will see it arrive as
I have many times before , but every daybreak is different depending what you’re
up to. Watching the sun come up with a loved one is special as you both share
the experience. Today I am alone I am on route to the heliport ready to fly
offshore.
The trip is one I have done many times before. I arrive in
Aberdeen I grab my bags and have an hour before my helicopter check in. I sit
and ponder over a coffee a quick check of my phone, eight o clock my family
will be up and busy chatting over breakfast while I am miles away. I check my
phone a message it’s from Karen ‘love ya dad’ see ya soon xx a warm feeling
comes into my body. I watch the world go by and in no time it’s my time, I head
into waiting area and soon I watch the flight brief I have seen it many times
before but I listen as if I was a first time flyer. Suit on time to go to work.
So we head out to the rig, the chopper flight is long by now
my early morning start means I drift in and out of sleep. This trip it’s an oil
rig 200 miles offshore from Aberdeen. A bleak place to be but it’s my job and
my home for the next two weeks.
Later in my cabin I unpack my bags. I put up my pictures,
both my children and wife take pride of place above my bunk. I gaze at the
pictures and drift back to when they were took, a hot summers day I got my
family together so I could get some nice pics I touch the frame I miss home
already .
It’s been a long day, as I lay in my bunk I have had my
chance to call home after tea. My wife tells me what’s been going on and says
she is on her own tonight as Karen is staying out. So we are both alone
tonight, but I am miles away and will be for the next thirteen nights. It’s a
hard job to do especially since I have a family, not young children I know and
they both go about their own lives they probably don’t even think about their
old dad as much as I think about them. When I am away I have time on my hands
and spend time looking back in my mind at their lives. It seems like only
yesterday they were crawling and learning to walk. Now they are grown up and
have lives of their own. I take one last look at my picture and switch out the
light I say in my mind night night and sweet dreams to the both as I did when I
said good night when they were children.
My family means the world to me and I miss them loads when I
am away, I do this job and be away from home so I can give them a better life.
There are times when I wish I was at home but then when I return home I feel
the love and warmth of my family it makes it all worthwhile.
So there you have it a short few words to tell you about a
day in my life, so next time you look up in the sky and see a plane go over, it
could be me heading north again and away from my loved ones. But on the other
hand I could be heading home and full of excitement of being back in my place
as being just a dad and a husband.
Night night all
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