Journey of a Lifetime

Death in the UK

It was December, nearly Christmas, when I was able to get Adam over to the UK with me. The WCW v WWF had still been crazy, keeping him on the road for the majority of the time. And with a title belt, it was more important for him to be part of it. And he loves it, I just needed a couple of days to get him to travel.

A magazine had published one of our wedding photos, our marriage now known worldwide. We don't know how they got the photo, we certainly didn't sell it to them.

We landed in Heathrow, London early on 19 December, flying from New York. The plan was to be here for 4 days at most, so Adam can get back to work. I had closed the office until after Christmas, allowing me time to choose someone to take over and prepare for the next conference in the new year. Winter was starting to take hold of the UK, blankets of frost and fog rolling over the countryside hills.

"I booked the local pub hotel for us" I smile as we wait for the Suffolk train out of Liverpool Street Station. The hotel was clean and close to my family, close enough to my grandad who was still in hospital. His body refusing treatment. It felt like only a matter of days until the end. I had called my dad before booking this trip, seeing if he was going to make the trip. But he denied.

"Sounds great, babe" Adam smiles down at me and putting his arm over my shoulders, taking me out of my trance, my overthinking.

The carriage was quiet, they usually are going out of London on the early mornings. It was trains going back into London that were busy, people travelling into the capital for work. It meant we could rest for the next few hours, get a quiet spot and sleep on the dusty fabric seats. We settled into the booth, placing our case on the overhead shelf.

"Everything will be okay" Adam reassured me, reading my thoughts.

"Thank you for coming with me" I say with a sad smile, squeezing his fingers. I hate that my grandad is so ill. I hate that my dad didn't bother to make the trip. I hate that I can't stay here forever.

10am we arrived in Suffolk, getting the extra train into Felixstowe. I am so tired, but I am home. I smiled when I saw the town name on the station platform entrance.

"Home" I said to myself with a content smile

"Shall we head to the hotel first to drop off our stuff?" Adam asked, helping me off the train

"Sounds good. I need a shower"

"We need a shower" he smiled

"True" I say, laughing slightly at his raised eyebrows

The Lion And The King was the local pub in central Felixstowe, a short walk to the docks and pebble covered beach. It was where I spent hours of my childhood drinking shandy, pouring beer from the pitcher into my glass without the knowledge of the people with me. The hotel was upstairs, the rooms small but cozy. Rooms hosted a queen bed, wardrobe and small bathroom. People would drink too much then collapse into one of the rooms to sleep off their beer fuelled hangovers, before doing it all again the next day. And this was our base for the next few days, the wooden floorboards creaking under our feet. We would go somewhere nicer for our honeymoon, somewhere with sun and room service. Maybe Hawaii.

"Do you know when visiting time is for your grandad?" Adam asked as he grabbed a clean set of clothes from our small suitcase

"From 2pm, so have a few hours" I confirm, rubbing my face from tiredness and grabbing a new set of clothes out for myself. "We'll clean up and head over"