You cannot underestimate how important significant relationships are for your happiness. When you move, one of the biggest losses is the network of people you leave behind, such as close friends, acquaintances, the cashier at the local grocery, the postal carrier, the tailor you see about twice a year, and other miscellaneous persons you recognize by sight like the teachers at the school your kids attend. These familiar faces or intimate friends, are the ones that make you light up when they arrive, chuckle with you when times are good, lift you when you are depressed, and generally journey through life with you. It’s hard to leave the places that are comfortable, but it is altogether demoralizing to leave persons you know and love.
Thus it was that we found ourselves in a new house in a new town in a new district in a new country in a new CONTINENT. (Not to mention a new driving pattern – that’s the topic of a different and earlier post…) We didn’t know our way around, didn’t speak the local lingo (the Queen’s English or any other British dialect), and besides didn’t even have someone of whom to ask the simplest directions. But bereft as we perceived we were, we knew that God was with us and caring for us. Sure enough, within a short time we began making some friends, mostly local folks and a few other Americans. These are the people – increasing in number with passing time, who made our stay in the U.K. bearable at first and after awhile, even downright pleasant. As we prepared to leave, eleven short months after moving there, we were surprised to find that these folks (and yes, a couple of places, too) had found their way into our hearts.
Before Mass at Church of the Immaculate Conception-Stroud
Below are many that we were able to share our time with in Britain. Due to technical problems with computers, we lost photos from October through November, 
and so some of our companions may not be shown. However, we loved and were grateful for all who we met and who came to visit and were so much the better for having lived and journeyed with them. (Click on photo link below to see our companions in the U.K.)
The PeopleWe Met
(We thank you for sharing in the journey as you followed this blog. While there are no plans for more posts, you never know… If you happen to be in Virginia or nearby in Washington, D.C., be sure to let us know and come by and visit. Cheerio!)
