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Linda’s Mum was not very happy and said I need have no more involvement now they would deal with Linda, I was so angry I asked where she had been all these weeks, why hadn’t she even been to see their flat and check on her daughter. Her answer was she should have had an abortion, she had made her bed therefore, it was not her problem.

Dennis did try to visit Linda in hospital when she was out of danger but the staff were under instructions not to let him in. I could understand why and I am sure Linda had enough to contend with, with her Mother taking over. Linda would not be pleased.

Dennis came round and said he had to go to court the following morning for shoplifting and stealing a Doctors bag from his car and my electric meter.. He said he was sure he would get bail but just in case had brought a few of his things (address books ,birth certificate and a few photo’s etc..) for me to look after. He said he would be pleading Not Guilty so that it would have to be adjourned to Crown Court and go before a jury. This was purely a ploy to play for time. The trouble is it backfires if you don’t get bail, as then you have to be remanded in prison until a court date is set which can take weeks even months. I hoped he didn’t get bail, at least he would be away from the drug scene, get board and lodgings and three meals a day. I wished him luck but didn’t mean it , he said whatever happened he would get word to me. This would be his first time in prison if it came to that, a wake up call hopefully.

Guess what , he was remanded in custody. Of course it was then left to me to tell everybody. Dr Jones and of course Linda’s family so they could sort out the flat. Dr Jones said he wasn’t surprised as it was his bag that Dennis stole. Talk about bite the hand that feeds your drug habit. He also said that he and his family were moving to Devon he had got his own practice there. I was sorry to see him go but I think he had been in trouble with the home Office because of the over-prescribing.

It was quite nice Dennis being in prison, I didn’t have to make sure there was nothing lying around that he could steal. My Mum and Dad were upset but relieved at the same time. Hoping he would get off the drugs while he was there. My Mum was still waiting to go and see the consultant.

The next morning I got a letter from Mrs Smith the Housing Officer saying she was offering me a three bedroomed house as promised in Long Chaulden. The idea of the house thrilled me to bits but where it was I wasn’t too happy about as the children would have to change schools and I felt they had too much change in their short lives already. Still, we would go and have a look at it. I couldn’t get there until Saturday as I was working. Saturday came I got the kids ready and we went to have a look at the house.

I wasn’t to impressed, it was a very steep incline from the pavement to the front door not suitable for children. I decided with it being a distance from their school I was going to turn it down. I hoped Mrs Smith would understand. I would ring her from work on Monday.

Monday came and I rang Mrs Smith and explained about the changing schools and she agreed it wouldn’t be fair to give them yet another change. She said another house had just become available and she thought I would love it. She was such a lovely lady. The house was just across the road from us it was called Hetchleys and it was where Lesley’s friend Kim lived. I couldn’t wait to see the house as in that road there were about three different types of houses. Mrs Smith said she couldn’t give me the keys yet as the people hadn’t yet moved out but she said it was number 23 so we could look from outside .

I couldnt wait to get home from work and tell the kids and go and have a look. The children were so excited we got ready and went to look. It was a lovely house one of a terrace of six with a green in front. At the back was the woods which led to the walk to Potton end. We were all sold on it and the kids wanted to know when we could move in. I then had to explain that the people had to move out first, then we had to pack everything in our house into boxes which would be a mammoth task. They all said they would start straight away. I said we could call at the supermarket and see if they had some boxes. Our luck was in they had just three one each for the kids and they said they would keep tomorrows boxes for us.

I now had a problem in trying to move our stuff, Dennis couldn’t help he was in prison. I didn’t really want to ask Mike. I knew my Mum and Dad were coming to help but none of us could drive. I really had to do some serious thinking.

When we got home I gave the kids a box each and asked them to sort their toys first as it was no good taking things they didn’t want anymore. They said ok but I knew I would have to keep an eye on them. I said I would help them after I had prepared dinner.

The next day at work I was talking to Mr Whitlock who I worked with and got on really well with about the house we had been offered and he said he would like to help us move. He said he couldn’t do any heavy work but was sure their was plenty of small things he could fill his car with. I said that would be great but was also a little concerned as he was in his late sixties but he insisted. Then a couple of others, one who had a trailer said they would help and not to hire a van as she had two strapping sons who would do the heavy stuff. My worries seemed to be over in the moving aspect. I would make sure everything was packed and labelled.

I had decided that I was going to buy a new suite as the one I had would be too big for the house as the living room was half the size of the one we had now. I could only afford a cheap one and that would have to be on HP something I didn’t like but didn’t seem to have a choice.

The kids and I went to look in the Co-Op at suites and found a really nice one, we all liked that was black leather(plastic) and orange upholstery which was the right size and in the sale at half price. I arranged for it to be delivered to our new house. At least we wouldn’t have to move it.

I rang my Mum and Dad and told them about the house. They were thrilled to bits for us and said they would come here at the weekend and help to get things packed and ready for moving. I was so pleased my Mum was an amazing organiser.

We had a whole week to get things sorted as the moving day was a week Saturday. The children were amazing they helped so much and not a moan. The only moaning was about getting rid of old toys, even though they knew they had outgrown them and storage was going to be much less than we had at the moment.

My Mum and Dad arrived safely on Saturday the journey hadn’t been so bad as I sent them the train fare so it only took a couple of hours as opposed to about eight on the coach. My Mum couldn’t wait to get cracking. We had lunch then got stuck in. She was giving us all jobs to do.

Sunday I decided was going to be a restful day, I was doing a nice full roast and had even baked a cake. It was going to be a family day and it was, we all had such a good time. After dinner we all played Newmarket the card game. It reminded me of the Sundays we used to have with my Gran and Grandad that was a ritual, after dinner we all played cards.


I finally got the keys to our new house today and I couldn’t wait to get home that evening so that we could all go and look inside properly. The kids could decide which bedroom they could have. Steve could have his own bedroom but Lesley and Sheila would have to share. We all went to the house, my Mum and Dad hadn’t seen inside nor the children, only me. That was because I had to view it while the old tenants were still in and I couldn’t take three kids with me, so I went myself

Everyone was impressed, they decided that Lesley and Sheila was going to have the middle size bedroom at the back and I would have the largest which was at the front. Steve had to have the single room which was still a good size. They were all pleased anyway. There was a fair sized lounge much smaller than our present one but ok. It was a kitchen diner which was surprisingly big and a room I knew we would spend a lot of time in. There was also a sort of outhouse that was attached to the house and led out to the garden. It would be great for storage. There was also a good sized garden that backed on to the woods. It was great my Mum and Dad thought so too.

The house had been left really clean and was in a fair decorative order. It needed a little tlc but it was only cosmetic. My Dad saw a couple of things that needed a coat of paint and said he would get it all done before Saturday ,our moving in day.

We went back home and had dinner and talked and talked about our new house. I told my Mum and Dad I would leave the keys for them the next day but they were not to wear themselves out, just potter about as there was 4 days to do it in. They agreed but I knew they would be working their socks off.