Waifs and strays

Waifs and strays Yes, everyone wants to come and live with John and Lisa! The latest 'lodger' will be John's next youngest brother Paul, who may arrive sometime next weekend. He currently lives in Derbyshire, right on the border to Sheffield with his girlfriend and her two children. A few years ago Paul split with his wife Hazel and it was a rough divorce with her trying to take him for everything he had. Obviously I don't know all the ins and outs but it sounded a real mess and really unfair on his part. He also has two children, Yasmin and Ellis who live with Hazel in Hampshire. You can imagine the nightmare travelling to and from Derbyshire to see them, and this is partly the reason why he's decided it's just not working out up north. Paul used to be a very successful businessman in highly paid positions. That all went to pot after his divorce and he couldn't find anything suitable up there. He ended up being a bus driver which is such a come down. He is also involved in the Colour Guard competitions but has to travel long distances to get to venues. For anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about, here's a link to explain!

click here

I don't know whether his relationship with Nicola fell apart as well but anyway he's decided to return down south and try and sort out his life. I've no idea how long he'll be staying with us but we're always happy to help the homeless!

One of John's other brothers, Chris, and his wife Sandy lived with us for eleven months during 2005, three months before they went on a round the world trip and eight months after they returned. On that occasion, they had moved to England from Florida where Chris was working. Prior to that they lived in Holland, as Sandy is Dutch. Anyway that worked out okay and there's no reason why Paul's stay won't either. I get on really well with all his family so hopefully it'll be a pleasant experience.