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Joe Graham
Sep 3, 08 - 9:58 AM |
LOOKING BACK ..THE WANDERLUST
THE WANDERLUST My mother used to always say, “Do you see our Joe, he will never die in the asylum, he changes his mind too often,” and I must admit I am quite prone to mind changes, in fact some times I think my mind has a mind of its own ..if that makes sense? I remember one morning walking down the Cotton Mill Lane to St. John’s School with Eamon McLaughlin, Liam Green and Gerard McGlade, we would have been about ten or eleven it was a bright sunny morning. We were talking about what we were going to do when we grew up , Liam said his piece, then Gerard and Eamon, and I said, “You know what I am going to do...I am going to get a car and drive all over America.” The years came and went, I got married we had three children, Deborah, Joseph and Sean, I got a car alright but had not got to America. Then one day, it was 1980, I had completed a biggish building job I had undertaken and had just collected the payment, a considerable sum of money and was driving through the town when that old video recorder in my head clicked in automatically to ’rewind ’mode, then ’pause ’, then ’play’ and there I saw these four little boys walking down a cinder lane talking about what they were going to do when they grew up. The wee dark one said, “I am going to get a car and drive all over America”. I parked the car and walked to the nearest Travel Agents and asked for five return tickets to California, two adults and three children. The girl took the money and gave me a receipt and a date of departure, which was in three weeks time. I didn’t even know I needed pass boards or visa’s, I just didn’t think about that. Off I rushed home , the kids had just got home from school “Quick Ann, get the kids into the car we have to get photographs and pass boards”. Ann looked stunned, “What are you talking about Joe”. I stayed by the door “C’mon, I will tell you in the car” Three weeks later we landed in California, hired a big Malibu car and hit the road, Disneyland here we come, we just drove and drove and drove and seen a lot of California, but we never got out of California for no one told me just how big California was, let alone America. We landed back home, skint, not a penny, but sun tanned, Ann went to make a cup of tea, I turned on the television, it gave a bang and died right before my eyes. “Ah well ” thought I, and leaned my head back in the chair and would you believe it, that bloody video recorder clicked on and there was those four kids walking down that cinder lane again. Over the next twenty odd years the wee guy did eventually get to drive ‘all over America’, from east to west, north to south and all in between, Some dreams don’t die and dreams can become a reality, never give up on your dreams. Keep your options open to change your mind though. |
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