Birthday at Berryhead

So am back from Devon again, another nice and bittersweet trip down there.

We didn't arrive in Exeter until half midnight as I had to go to rehearsal before we set off (oh no you didn't, oh yes I did - sorry can't get out of Panto mode!!). On arrival I basically put Harry straight into bed and then we had a couple of whiskys to toast Richie on the start of his birthday.

Was up fairly early the next morning thanks to my noisy 4 year old! Got showered, packed up car again and headed for Torquay. We went for lunch in what was mine and Richie's favourite restaurant, had a quick walk around then headed to Preston Sands. So if you remember from an earlier blog Preston Sands beach was where we would take the kids on the last day of any trip down to Devon to grab an ice-cream and walk along the beach. Its also where we all had our shots of Tequila and ran 'baywatch' style into the sea before we scattered Richie's ashes back in June. Therefore we decided that despite it being October and the risk of us all catching pneumonia we would do this again (although without the Tequila this time as last time I nearly threw up in the Sea - nice!!). I don't really need to say that there were many girlish screams as the cold sea water hit our skin (mostly from Dave, me and Mum managed to brave it out haha!!). Hopefully he was looking down and pissing himself laughing at the site of us having a swim on a chilly October day!

After we had dried off and returned to a healthy pink colour (was a tad blue on exiting the sea!) we headed on to Berryhead. I can never quite describe the way I feel when we pull into the car park of the hotel - the beautiful views make you want to gasp they are so pretty, and the hotel is so chilled - especially with the sound of the sea lapping the rocks. This mixed with happy memories of our gorgeous wedding day and then the emotions of the day we scattered his ashes - an odd cocktail which I am sure you can imagine.

Anyway, I spent some time on the rocks with Harry and Mum. Sat quiet thinking about him and all the good times we had, and also sat with H and talked about Daddy. To be fair H didn't sit for long before he was running around like a mad thing, giving me and Mum a heart attack every couple of minutes when he would career too close to the edge!! However I am sure that Richie would prefer to see his boy whizzing about as usual than any other way.

That evening we all had a nice dinner together and glass of champagne to wish Richie a fabulous birthday wherever he was (Harry stuck to OJ of course!). No doubt Richie would be having a glass or two himself (Champagne not OJ of course!) at his own party in paradise.

If there was a magic way to get a birthday message to him then mine would be - Happy Birthday Richie on what would have been your 38th Birthday. Your card would no doubt have lots of references to the closeness of hitting your 40s!! We miss you more and more everyday but hope that you are watching down on us all and smiling, or even better laughing at some of the crazy ways we keep your memory alive. Lots of love today, forever and always Mantha, Becs and H xx

October

So in just 3 days it would have been Richie's birthday. Lots of things going on at the moment which make me think about everything that we went through last year. I thought at the time that there would be nothing harder to deal with/go through etc, but of course there always is and facing up to the fact that the is no longer with is a million times harder.

Fortunately I have the week off work so will be able to have a relaxing week (work is currently very stressy!). I will be gymming and shopping Monday, London Tuesday, and then heading to Devon after rehearsals Tuesday evening. We will be staying at my sisters new place in Exeter Tuesday evening and then heading on to Berryhead Wednesday morning. Am very much looking forward to sitting on the rocks in our special place and having a good old chat with the big guy! Harry has not been since our wedding so will be nice to sit there with him and talk about Daddy. As I type this I still find it incredibly hard to comprehend the fact that I will never see him again, never hear that made laugh and never have one of his bear hugs. Weird and strange all at the same time, I dont think that I will ever be able to understand or come to terms with it, but I guess its something that we just have to accept and deal with.

Anyway, the point of this blog is to say Happy Birthday to the big dude and I hope that wherever he is now he's having a few TVR's and shots to celebrate the day he started his journey with us all those years ago. xx

Nottingham to Maidenhead Bike Ride

Back in September two of Richie's friends completed a bike ride from Nottingham to Maidenhead in loving memory of Rich.

The journey commenced early on the morning of Saturday 12th September where the boys rode from Nottingham, via some 'Richie' landmarks such as Lady Bay School, Julian road, De Montford Uni etc onto Banbury. They stopped overnight in Banbury and then headed on to Maidenhead on Sunday 13th.

The boys rest for a well deserved pint!!

Tiredness appears to be kicking in!

Wayne and Sean arrived in Maidenhead early afternoon to a welcome committee of myself, Katy and Harry along with cups of tea and jammy cakes! Wayne with very sunburnt knees and Sean looking like he needed a well deserved beer!

Well done guys, Richie will be so proud.

If anyone would like to make a donation in support of all the hard work and efforts of Sean and Wayne then donations can be left at www.justgiving.com/mrbaldy or www.justgiving.com/chemoman