General Chat

I am getting a tad excited now

Our youngest sister is on her way from British Columbia for an 11 day quick visit to see us

She lands today at Gatwick having been travelling over night and is being picked up by long term friends who emigrated to Canada too just after she and her hubby did in the 70,s but came back to the uk three years ago

Earlier this year our only one now surviving brother was diagnosed with lung cancer He has had radiation therepy but is quite frail and sister was so worried she wouldn't see him again
She still works at aged 69 so has had to fit in when she could come over

As we are all over the uk she is having geographically to do the rounds so she will be in London from the 12- 14th ,then up to Manchester to see the brother till the 16th then down to me in Kent till the 18th back to her friends for three days then back to Gatwick for her return jourmey

We haven't seen her for two years when she visited with her hubby Tony who was undergoing tests at that time for cancer
Sadly he did have oesophageal cancer and died a year ago so it will be bitter sweet to see her but on her own .

We do talk every Sunday on messenger and are very close but it will be great to give her a big hug in person

Hope your sister has a wonderful visit, Shirley. I have friends abroad and miss them but to have a family member you don't see often must be even harder. It's great that you keep in touch.

Lizxx

Have a wonderful time together.

There are several face to face programmes you could use instead of typing messages. Skype is a popular one also FaceTime. We’d use Skype when our daughter was living in California. At the time it was 1p per minute. Well worth the expense :-D

Have a wonderful time with your sister so sorry regards the circumstances

Have a fabulous time with your sister and take loads of photos..

We used to use Skype but updates to it stopped it working for both of us

We somtime do FaceTime but she uses an I phone and finds it easer to use messenger .

Enjoy your time together and make more memories to look back on x

Hope you enjoy your time together .it will be lovely for you all Barbara :-)

Have a wonderful time with your sister Shirley. :-)

How lovely Shirley, have a fab time <3 <3 <3 <3

I hope you all share some happy family time when your sister visits.

Have a great time with your sister, Shirley.

Have you ever thought of making a trip out here to see her???

Hubby and I and a sister and one of her sons went to stay with them in 2001 when they were living in Abbottsford
We were there when 9/11 happened

She was asking me earlier this year to go over and do an Hawaiian cruse but we didn't get around to it

Think it may be on the card for next year She wants me to go for a month . First week stay at hers ,two week cruise then back to hers for another week

I am seriously thinking about it . She has reassured me the boats are very stable and there are lifts everywhere so no worries about stairs which are a problem for me .and my mobility in walking would be ok

She tells me lots of American OAPs do the trips and some have more mobility issues than me

If I do go I instend to fly first class too so I can stretch out and even have a sleep on the journey .this more so on the return as it's a 12 hour flight at least depending on the airline :-D

Shirley ............

great idea!!

Actually, it isn't as long as 12 hours from London to Vancouver as the plane goes he short way over the North Pole. It's more like 8-9 hours ..... but Business or First Class is a great idea. The other advantage is that you get better food in those classes than in Economy ;-)

Don't be tempted to go for the cheap flights, like Air Transat. Go for Air Canada, British Airways or such airline, and go for a direct flight ............. don't end up having to change planes somewhere.

You will need an eTA (Electronic Travel Authorisation) to get on the plane .......... you apply for it on line. There is a small charge for this.

Strange to say, but you can fly faster from London to Vancouver than I can from Vancouver across Canada to Halifax Nova Scotia!

Your sister is also correct in that there are more elevators (lifts), moving walkways and escalators than in the UK ............. and you can ask for and get mobility help at airports and the cruise ports.

Thanks for the info Sylvia

When we went in 2001 BIL Tony worked at Vancouver airport as a painter of the logos on the planes

He would be part of a team of painters

Because of this he got employee discounts including some free flights so we all went over as standby booked seats and only had to pay airport taxes

Think it was air Canada Or Canadian airlines at that time

I know the company did change over after that

Have been looking at direct flights and through the bigger airlines not bucket ones ,certainly don't want change over flights .

Sister had to fly to Toronto then to Gatwick Tuesday/wed so get she is jet lagged

I found jet lag was awful when we came back .took me a week to recover properly

Shirley ...............

Some people or experts say jet lag is worse when one flies either east to west or the reverse.

I've always found it worse when going home, no matter the direction!


I think, for me, that it is that going away is exciting, lots of plans, lots of things I want to do. Coming home, I'm more relaxed, thinking maybe of work or what humdrum things I have to do .... and bingo, jet lag for several days!


Keep an eye open for seat sales, you sometimes get a good deal even on Business or First Class

Enjoy her Visit Shirley You deserve a boost :-D :-D

Hope you have a lovely family reunion Shirley :-)

So sorry about the circumstances with your brother though <3

Had a wonderful visit with my sister

So much chat and family info exchanged

It did both of us good too to talk about our hubbies and their last days before they passed . Sis said she did so much she blocked it out and then worried why she hadn't cried and was feeling guilty cos she thought she should cos she loved him but she couldn't

We both had tears and we opened up to each other and it was very relaxed

Soooo she really wants me to do the Hawaii trip in the spring and it's really on the cards. We have agreed I will go over for 4 weeks with the two week cruise in between and I,m really looking forward to it .


:-)

Lovely to have had a good meet up with your sister and great to have something to look forward to.