Sometimes you wonder about people. And perhaps you should not.
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2016-02-13 20:49:33 - Graham EllisI remember Paul and Laura. They met online / via a newsgroup and became a couple. Scatty youngsters at the time - he British, she American and the whole immigration shenanigans got in their way. Don't think families were very supporting and I remember having them round to my place in Swindon and getting a Chinese takeaway with them, giving them a shoulder when I was living in Nythe in Swindon ... when they should have been a day or two off their wedding in the USA but the paperwork had been wrong.
I guess I remember them for some reason - and yet perhaps that's the wrong reason. For I too questioned "will this last" and wondered at their practicallity / sanity and the longevity of the relationship, and her slight lethary too. I questioned - but I look back and think that whilst I might have been correct to question, I was wrong in any negative conclusions I might have reached. Paul and Laura have three lovely kids, and it's crystal clear from her posts that they're caring, loving parents and very much people I would call not only facebook friends, but real friends too.
Take a look [here]. Turned out Laura has a heart condition, and over the past three years I've followed on Facebook as she's been ill - really ill - and being through the ups and downs of waiting for, then receiving, a heart transplant - with all the ups and downs that follow such an operation. And Paul very much there, very much to support her and the children.
Lisa was asking earlier today "why can't people admit they've made a mistake / changed their mind" - in talking about local politicians, so nothing to do with Laura and Paul. But I'm proud to turn around and say that I misread them all those years ago in Nythe - that Paul and Laura are far, far more complete, sane, lovely people than I would ever have given them credit for, and I salute them.
"Happy Valentine's Day! Less than two years after transplant, heart recipient Laura Boyce Baker will run the marathon relay!!!"