Hijack #2 - Jaja's Christening Speech!!!

Hijack #2...

It's me again!  And so far Lloyd doesn't even know I've been hijacking his blog and I had so much fun last time I thought I'd do it again... 

So the other day I was searching through some things and I came across this, it totally overwhelmed me so I thought I'd share it with you.  I remember Lloyd's delivery of it on the day, it took my breath away and it still does!  It's little things you come across on a daily basis that make you feel blessed truly blessed - I love being reminded to always count my blessings ...

Jaja’s Christening Speech – Lloyd Thompson

6^th June 1999

I would first of all like to thank everyone for coming today.

Now everyone here is either a close friend or family member and therefore you all know how long we waited for this little chap to come along.  I think you all know just how much it means for Trudie and myself to be given a ‘Most precious gift from God’ or as they would say in Nigeria ‘Jaja’.

What has surprised both of us though is just how much he means to all of you.  After he was born we received over 200 cards of congratulations and the hall carpet is wearing thin with the number of visitors beating a path across it on a daily basis with gift a plenty – (so think yourselves lucky you got an invite to Jaja’s coming out party)!  Seriously though, it’s so touching to see the genuine love that so many people have for him from his Grandparents to Godparents and all of you.

As for Trudie and me, well six numbers on a Saturday night couldn't replace the jackpot that we've hit.  There’s a saying that goes ‘Mothers hold their children’s hands a while and their hearts forever’ – I think that’s true of both parents.  Lots of you here today are parents, Trudie’s parents, my parents and their parents, you all know that feeling of holding your Child's heart forever, we are so grateful to have joined the parent club, to be given the opportunity to hold his little heart. 

So whatever you are drinking please raise your glasses to ‘The most precious gift from God’ or as they say in Africa Jaja! 

WHILE THE CATS AWAY .....

Hello Lovely People, my name's Trudie and I'm the other half of Lloyd and like the title suggests ... while the cats away the mouse will play ... So I decided to hijack his blog mmmm so here goes! ...

Anyone who knows Lloydie (full version would read Lloydieroonypoohs!) would describe him as a real trooper, a happy trooper and a lovable trooper.  He is kind and he's generous and he never ever complains about anything EVER no matter the adversity he has endured and I should know, I dragged him through 12 years on IVF treatment!  Lloyd would always say "Don't waste one single minute of your precious life feeling sorry for me because I'm fine and dandy like a million dollars", and he just gets on with it with a smile on his face, a song in his heart and even, on occasion, a dance around our kitchen/dining room/lounge/hallway/bedrooms/bathroom/landing etc. on one occasion he actually conga danced over our bed with me in it!  Well apparently I was en route!!

As you are no doubt fully aware Lloyd is presently compiling a book to honour all the football stories from the real life fans who have had to live through the excruciatingly harrowing experience of their sacred football stadiums being uprooted and moved to newer, I suppose more efficient, safer grounds - quite a huge task to take on but suffice to say he is doing a magnificent job and he has managed to obtain many stories some very amusing but some are so poignant they bring a tear to the eye.  I believe this book will be a beautiful gift to the memories of so many true and loyal fans.

SO HERE'S MY PLEA!!

I have attached Lloyd's own memories of his beloved Bolton Wanderers moving from Burnden Park to the Reebok Stadium and I am asking that you forward it onto anybody at all, please don't preempt whether you believe anyone would be interested or not, just please please forward and let's see how many more stories we can produce between us.  So if you're on Facebook then please post, if you're on Twitter then please tweet, if you're on LinkedIn please post ... you get the idea and I know you will all want to help me help him, it will be a fantastic surprise next time he comes on to see that I've been up to my mischievous meddling shenanigans - it's one of the reasons he married me!

So I'll sign off now but before I go I just want to say a huge thank you for all your kind support of this great man who I get to call my dear sweet hubby.

Bless you all and I send you big hugs and kisses and a bag load of love.

Yours in great anticipation,

Trudie xx

pastebin.com/xws8DWL7 

'IT'S MY BIRTHDAY...I'LL WRITE WHAT I WANT TO!'

Hi everyone! I just wanted to do a quick posting before I go out to celebrate my Birthday which is today. I like it when I have good reason to party, although having said that and then thought it through, why do I need a reason or excuse to go out and let my hair down? (Not literally of course...you've all seen my photos and I don't do hair as you can clearly see. Well not since my Apollo Creed days of the 80's at least).

Anyway, I'm not Blogging today just to tell you that I'm the 'Birthday Boy' because there is another reason why I'm chuffed with myself...My new e-book 'Together Forever' that I told you about a few weeks ago goes live today on 'Amazon' and I know that if you like my Blog then you will like my book. I really hope that you will buy yourself a copy and more to the point enjoy reading it and any reviews on Amazon will be much appreciated. (I nearly said 'good reviews' will be appreciated but I know you will all love it!)

Right... that's enough plugging of the new book, I'm off now to get Merry as Trudie and Jaja are taking me out to a lovely Italian Restaurant nearby where there is great food and wine to be consumed by yours truly.
Oops! final book plug...the link to Amazon is below....enjoy.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00J4PXRE8    

S.W.A.L.K.

I suppose that being a writer of this Blog as well as a couple of books, I more than most should embrace all the current day technology that makes the life of an author so much easier. After all computers, email, internet, mobile phones etc, etc, are all designed to put us in contact with each other at the touch of a button.

If you have a sudden urge to communicate with someone who may be on the other side of  town or indeed the other side of the world there are numerous ways in which you can be doing just that within seconds... Now I can readily see the benefits of speedy communication and response in the case of emergencies or in business but in the general day to days of life I have to ask "What's all the bloody rush?!"

We've all at some-time or other been in a situation where we are having a face to face conversation with another person and had 'a slip of the tongue' or blurted out words without really thinking what we were saying, words that on reflection later we didn't really mean to say or if we did mean to say them we didn't mean to say them in the order that they came out (I think that makes sense)...So having said the wrong thing in a conversation where you are actually in the same room as the other person you have the opportunity there and then to look them in the eye and change your words or apologise or explain what you really meant to say. You are communicating in the best way available to us as humans ie, face to face and verbally.

As I said at the top of this page I really do embrace all the modern technology that is available to us these days but there's an old fashioned, romantic part of me that laments the passing of the 'art of writing'. I don't mean writing in the way I am at this very moment tapping away at my computer, I mean proper writing with a pen and paper.

I describe writing as an 'art' because I think nowadays it is,'a romantic art' that is fast dissapearing and I find it a great shame that we are allowing that to happen. Bring back the pen and paper I say! and I can just hear all you 'Tech Heads' screaming "But it's too slow!" So I say again "What's all the bloody rush?!"

When Napoleon wrote his famous love letters to Josephine he did not send them by text!
When Shakespeare wrote his works he did not do it on his laptop!
When Beethoven was laying down his tunes he was not in some high tech recording studio!

They all did the same thing...they put pen to paper and created masterpieces of their time that still live on in this technological age we now live in. When you write with a pen on paper you have time to think and give proper consideration to the words you are using and the way in which you are using them. When you send a quick text for example you can so easily say the wrong thing or even if you don't intend to say the wrong thing your abbreviated, garbled message can so easily be misconstrued by the reader...particularly if you have rushed it and sent it to the wrong person in your addresses list (and yes we all know that does happen). Texting is such a poor way of communicating compared to the letters we used to write back in time.

The title of this Blog is S.W.A.L.K. and I would confidently assume that not many people of the younger generations know what it means. It stands for 'Sealed with a loving kiss' and it's what romantic couples would write on the envelopes of their love letters to each other. Love letters where they have time to consider their true emotions and feelings for each other before writing them down. Trudie and me used to regularly write to each other in this way when I had to move away to Aberdeen and it helped to keep our relationship strong in spite of the many miles between us. Soldiers in the trenches of the Great wars used to look forward to the letters they would receive from loved ones who were thousands of miles away because they would be able to read and feel just how much they were loved and missed.

I'm not saying writing a letter once in a while can make your world rosy if it's nothing of the sort but it can definitely enhance the way we communicate with each other. Texting for me is a rather faceless way of interacting with others and these days you even hear of employers sacking employees by text and how cowardly and inconsiderate is that!?

If you still don't know where I'm coming from in all of this then just think about that soldiers in the trenches all those years ago and it's bad enough that this weeks letter happens to be of the 'Dear John' variety' but at least his sweet-heart has taken the time to give serious consideration to the words she is conveying to him. She explains all the ins and outs and why's and wherefores of why she cant stay with him "It's me not you" etc...Whichever way he reads that letter he is going to be hurting but it's still  way better  than: Bleep! Bleep!...Incoming text...."Soz babe, ave to finish wiv u, cant **** some text missing ****

Nuff said!
      

'TOGETHER FOREVER'...

You could be forgiven for thinking the title of this latest post is referring to the 'Billboard Hot 100' 1988 No1 hit by Rick Astley but it's nothing to do with that really as I have simply borrowed those words to use as the title for my soon to be released e-book.
Writing comes easily and naturally to me as I transfer my thoughts through my fingers to my keyboard with very little effort...until it comes to titles as for some strange reason I always seem to struggle to come up with something I'm truly happy with. I think the title of a book or blog should convey some clue as to what the reader can expect to find in the main text so the name of my new book was the very last piece of the jigsaw to be added.

The book itself was 27 years in the making. Not that it took me so long to write it but as ever I write about life, love & relationships and this past week-end saw Trudie and I celebrating our 27th Wedding Anniversary. The comedians among'st you may quip "You would get a shorter sentence for committing murder"...though I suspect the vast majority of those comedians would be of the male species and that little observation in itself gives a hint towards the reading content of 'Together Forever'...

I don't think the vast majority of men in relationships are anywhere near as good as they could be and while 'it takes two to Tango' it's more often than not the man who fails to truly master the emotional steps of the 'Marriage Tango' and in my book I attempt to give a few tips and pointers to the guys that I hope will help them to be more successful in their relationships. I've not resorted to writing a boring list of do's and don'ts for men to follow, the book is more a series of anecdotes and observations from my own life where I have explained my perspective viewpoint.

What qualifies me to be doling out my 'pearls of wisdom' to you?...well nothing really if you are looking for letters after my name that show me to be some sort of 'Marriage or relationship Councillor'. However if you think 27 very happy years in a mixed race marriage where we have encountered 12 years of infertility problems, the loss of a business and ultimately Bankruptcy gives me a platform from which to speak then buy my book and see how we have made our lives together work no matter what we have been through. That said, if you are expecting 'tales of woe and heartache' you may be dissapointed because I don't do 'woe is me' and neither does Trudie and that's probably the main reason why we will indeed be 'Together Forever'

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IT WASN'T ME!

When I'm out and about in my car I often listen to 'Talk-Sport' a radio station that does what it says on the tin in that the various presenters talk about different sports throughout the day albeit with a heavy bias towards football (American readers that's Soccer to you) and that suits me just fine because if you've not already sussed it I am into my football in a big way and always have been...

This week one of the main topics of conversation on my favourite radio station has been about the launch of 'Harry Redknapp's Autobiography'.  Harry is well known to anyone with the slightest interest in football (even Trudie knows who he is (although that could have something to do with the fact that she has 'the hots' for his son Jamie Redknapp...).  Harry is currently the Manager of Queens Park Rangers, previous to that he was Manager of Tottenham Hotspur and was the Nations choice to be England Manager before losing out to the current England Boss Roy Hodgson. Harry is well known for his quotes and anecdotes, many of which are in his book apparently and one of them that I heard while listening the other day nearly had me phoning in to the station because it reminded me of something that happened to me many years ago as the presenters were asking listeners to phone in if they had ever been mistaken for someone else and taken advantage of that mistaken identity?...

In his book Harry tells the story of how for three years some guy who just worked in a bar hoodwinked him into thinking he was a horse racing jockey known as 'Lee Topliss' and for 3 years this guy gave Harry racing tips in exchange for money, match day tickets and autographed football shirts.  A whole 3 years this con-man pulled the wool over Harry's eyes before he was sussed out even though by Harry's' own admission most of the tips he got were crap! (Very good con-man or very dozy would be England Manager...you decide..)

Anyway, enough about Harry, let me tell you about my case of mistaken identity:

It was 1991 and I was working in Liverpool for a company called 'Ciro Citterio' who sold Mens Fashions. I was Manager of the store and one day got a visit from a local charitable fundraising organisation who wanted to know if we would like to take part in a big charity fashion show that was being staged in The Adelphi hotel in the city centre? The woman who was to be the main organiser went on to explain that it was to be a huge event with most of the major mens and ladies fashion labels in the City taking part.

I was already sold on the idea, seeing it as a great way of promoting my business while contributing to a good cause when she put the icing on the cake by telling me that she had models standing by and those models were all professional football players from 'Liverpool F.C.' no less!

Liverpool are a massive club worldwide and in the city itself their players achieve 'cult status' just by pulling on the famous red jersey for the Liverpool cause... there was a real buzz around town on the build up to the big night and I remember having to get security guards into my store on the day that the players who were to model our clothes came in to try on some of the planned outfits...we had Glenn Hysen, Bruce Grobbelaar, Barry Venison, Michael Thomas and most famous of all of them John Barnes!! The place was bedlam as word got round that the players were in my shop, it was turning out to be a really exciting experience for me and all my staff.

The big night eventually arrived and it was a complete sell out with every seat in the audience taken. The footballers were an absolute delight to work with and once they got over their initial stage fright (strange when you think they played in front of 40,000 fans every week) they were having a wail of a time. Every time one of them went down the 'runway' the crowd went wild, when John Barnes went down they went even wilder! As a team we really did steal the show and I got a real close up look at how people react when in the presence of fame and very soon I was about to get an even closer look...

The show was over and the players had been sneaked out of a back exit to avoid the inevitable crush at the front of the hotel and I was helping my staff take the rails of clothing out of the building when suddenly I was aware of someone approaching me from behind...As I half turned to see who it was she grabbed my arm and asked..."John! can I have your autograph please!"...She was a middle aged lady, very smartly dressed and I figured she must have been at the fashion show but what I didn't figure was why she wanted my autograph and why was she calling me John!? She held out 2 Liverpool match day programmes and made her request again..."Please John! will you sign these for me? My girls love you to bits!" Then the penny dropped as I realised what was going on, she thought I was John Barnes! She looked back down the corridor and called to the two stunning young ladies who were fast approaching behind her... "Come on girls I've got him!"

Now at this point I could have decided to be like Harry's fake jockey and milk the situation for what it was worth or I could put them straight... Incredibly I found myself opting for the latter...
"I'm sorry but you're mistaken, I'm pretty sure it's not my autograph you're wanting".
"Stop messing around John give us your autograph" said daughter No.1 as she took hold of my other arm.
Daughter No.2 piped up..."Who knows, we might make it worth your while" and she delivered that with a sexy glint in her eyes... The situation was starting to get out of control.

"I think that you think that I'm John Barnes but I'm not! He left about 10 minutes ago through the back exit with the other players".  Mum suddenly turned from 'fan' to 'foe'..."You're all the bloody same you big headed, love yourself footballers! D'ya think your too good to mix with the likes of us? I'm going to report you to the club! And off she stormed...but not before she hit me across the side of my head with the programmes!! "Come on girls, don't waste your time with the likes of him!"...Daughter No.1 set off in pursuit of Mum, Daughter No.2 stood there still giving me the 'come to bed eyes' before reluctantly following them.

I watched them leave before turning round to see my staff all bent double in fits of laughter and I had to laugh at myself and what had just taken place. To this day I still wonder if she did actually go to the club and report me and my 'appalling behaviour'? I have this image in my mind of John Barnes turning up for training the next day only to be hauled into Graeme Souness's office..."John, as a club we are doing our best to connect with the local community and interact with our supporters. Why are you spoiling all the hard work the club is doing by refusing to give fans your autograph?"....The blank look on John's face would have been priceless.

John if indeed you did get any grief over this then I apologise wholeheartedly but it was fun being you albeit reluctantly for just a couple of minutes.
  

       Who's Who?  (Jaja might be a clue!)

    

"I CHOOSE YOU..."

On last week's posting I gave you all a taster from our book 'Dreams Do Come True', the idea being to demonstrate that the book was not just 'lovey-dovey' romantic stuff. This week I'm giving you another taster but with a twist...Below is a chapter that I wrote for the book entitled 'The Proposal' and the twist is that this chapter never actually made it into the published book because we decided to go with Trudie's version of my proposal to her so in essence this is like 'The Directors Cut' and shows that 'The One Armed Black Chap' can do 'lovey-dovey romance' as good as the next guy, so please enjoy....p.s. if you then want to read Trudie's version then please buy the book. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dreams-Do-Come-True-Bankruptcy/dp/190829308X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380305117&sr=1-2&keywords=dreams+do+come+true

Lloyd’s Proposal

I had been living in Aberdeen for just over a year now. Everything was great on the job front and I had made new friends and settled into my new surroundings. My social life continued to be as hectic as it had always been. Aberdeen turned out to be a very cosmopolitan hive of activity courtesy of the broad mix of people and the many nationalities working there in the oil industry. There was also a big University that attracted young people from far-a-field to swell the numbers on the party scene. I was never short of company or somewhere to go, but that was not enough. I was for the first time that I could remember, wanting to be somewhere else or should I say with someone else.

I was by now missing Trudie like mad on a daily basis. It had been months since my flight of death and although we had continued to see each other very regularly i.e. most weekends, it was not enough. We both wanted to spend every waking hour together; we were as they say ‘head-over-heels in love’ in spite of the many miles that separated us for most of the time. I decided it was time to take some positive action, I was going to leave Aberdeen and head back south. Not only that, I was going to get married!

Hang on a minute. Was I being presumptuous and taking it for granted that Trudie would want to marry me? Maybe she liked things just the way they were but how would I know if I didn’t broach the subject? One thing I did know about Trudie is that she loves romance, so armed with that knowledge I decided to propose to her in a way that would ‘knock-her-socks-off’. Make it impossible for her to turn me down.

The heavy snowfall that weekend was both a bad and good thing. It was bad because it made Trudie’s journey up to Aberdeen very precarious and if she had decided to turn back and head home all my planning and scheming would have been in vain. However, she had soldiered on and made it there safely.

The really good thing about the snowfall was that it really set the scene for my plan way beyond what I could have expected; surely it was a positive sign of success?

We managed to make our way through the snow out to Stonehaven and Dunnottar Castle loomed into view on the top of the hill. We stepped out of the car and the fresh icy sea air pricked our nostrils as we carefully made our way up towards the castle gates. We were both wrapped up warmly against the biting cold as we crunched our way through the perfect, even snow. Trudie had thought I’d lost my marbles when I’d suggested we go for a walk to burn off the huge Sunday breakfast we had consumed that morning but she was however warming to the idea as we gazed up at the castle. Set against the clear winter sky with the sun peeping through what was left of the ancient crumbling turrets it was breath-taking. We had to shield our eyes as the sun reflected off the glistening snow all around us.

We finally made it to the top of the hill and stood outside the castle gates. “Oh I wish it was open so we could go inside”. Trudie had a look of disappointment on her face. “Maybe we can”, I replied as I looked around towards the back of the castle while praying that the next stage of my plan would fall into place… and then he appeared, right on cue as arranged.

The old man slowly made his way towards us. His tiny frame was bulked-out with what was the thickest, heaviest winter coat I’d ever seen and his hat and scarf framed his ‘kind eyes’, which were watering in the cold air. He drew his hands dressed in woollen fingerless gloves from his deep pockets and he was holding a huge bunch of ancient looking keys, “Would you lovely people like to go inside?” came his broad Aberdonian brogue. Trudie looked at me as if seeking my approval and I smiled and nodded. “Yes please”, she said to him excitedly. And he proceeded to unlock the huge main gate to the castle before standing aside to wave us through. “I’m too old to make it all the way up to the top these days, but as long as you go carefully I’m sure you youngsters will be okay”. He gave me the wink which told me everything was in place. Trudie was giddy with excitement as we wound our way towards the top and my heart was thumping in anticipation of what was coming next.

Finally we emerged once more into the sunlight and the view was astounding! We were standing at the top of the castle which in turn stood atop a cliff overlooking the sea and we could see for miles in every direction. It felt as if we’d climbed the steps to heaven and there was not a sound to be heard. I had often heard the words ‘silence is golden’ now I really appreciated just what that meant.

Trudie was gazing out to sea lost in her thoughts so I took my chance to scurry across to where the bottle of champagne and glasses were hidden… Bingo! The old man was as good as his word, what a star. I fished in my inside pocket and took out the ring and looked at it, yes she would love it I thought to myself before putting it back. “Why have you never brought me here before?” Trudie’s voice carried across the breeze “It’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever been to in my life”.

The clink of the glasses as I picked them up made her turn around… “Because I’ve never done this before”, I replied as I stepped towards her before bending down on one knee.

“I have waited all my life to meet someone so perfect, someone who makes me feel the way I do now, someone who does not try to control or judge, someone who is so genuine, kind and loving. Someone who makes me laugh and doesn’t look for negatives. You always find the positives and I can’t bear to think of my life without you in it. You have given me so much in such a short period of time, you believe in me more than I do myself. I love you with all my being and I want you to think seriously before answering this question, would you do me the honour….would you be my wife?” I held out the ring for her to see it and studied her face trying to pre-empt her reply and tears were streaming down her cheeks.

She reached out and touched my cheek, “I have wondered all my life if I would find true love and if I did, would my true love recognise and truly love me, but I could never in my wildest dreams have predicted such a romantic setting or a more perfect proposal. I would be honoured to be your wife and I would be honoured to share your life, yes I will marry you Lloyd Thompson and I’ll love you till the day I die”.

I stood up while taking her hand before placing the ring on her finger, queue more floods of tears. Trudie loved the ring as I knew she would. We hugged and kissed and drank snow-chilled champagne until the warmth of our love was no longer enough to fight off the icy temperatures and we decided to head home.

On reaching the bottom of the winding staircase we expected to see the old man waiting to lock up after us and Trudie wanted to thank him for helping making the day so special but he was nowhere to be seen. That was more than 25 years ago and although we never saw him again we will never forget him…

Later back at the apartment I gave Trudie a record that I had bought specially for that day.

The lyrics and indeed the whole sentiment of the song were perfect for the occasion; it’s a
beautiful tune and our most favourite and cherished piece of music and to this day is still ‘our
song’….. On the 23rd November 1986 we had our first dance at our wedding to it, ‘I Choose
You' (to be my wife) – by Paris.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht2g38A3nVI