Support from family and friends.

Whilst Joe was in the hospital Anna and I lived in Leeds. At first we stayed in a variety of hotels; some  good and some not so good. Later on we managed to rent a cottage in Oulton, just outside Leeds. We wouldn't have managed any of this though had it not been for the support of our family and friends. Anna's sister, Fiona, and her husband Pete. Pete, Anna's brother, and sister-in-law Gina, who came through from Canada and made themselves our 'slaves' for a week, Nige and Toni, Anna's mum and dad,  Phil and Gordon and Joe's cousins. Our friends and work colleagues were also constantly offering help . Thanks must go to Steph especially, who found us the cottage. Without all these people offering practical and emotional support we would never have got through this. In addition to all this we also had some financial help from family members and we were very grateful for this. Living out of a suitcase becomes very expensive so it really did help. I can't emphasise enough what it meant to us to have all this support. So, thank you, all of you.  One of the few good things that came out of all this horror was our realisation of just how kind and generous people are.

Our children, Tracey, Robbie and Beth, and our grandson Junior, were a constant source of comfort and they looked after everything at home and travelled through regularly whilst this nightmare unfolded. They are our strength now and were then. They miss Joe every hour and always will. Tracey calls us  the 'exceptional exception'. We might be a bit different from the average family but I defy anyone to find a family unit that is closer or people who care for each other more deeply. The recent furore about gay marriage and people's 'Christian' objections to it reveals that homophobia is still going strong. So many haters state we shouldn't bring up children. Well, I believe that our children can put to shame many so called Christians. They are caring and thoughtful, look out for each other and others and never tolerate bigotry, unkindness or hate. I don't believe in God but if you do then I think this is what your God expected from his followers.