family

I live with my parents (Greg and Marie) and my brother Joe. Joe is 2 years younger than me and we get on as well as most brothers do, amidst the flying fists that is! (joke, of course!).

My parents have been married for 25 years (!!!) a decent length of time, I think you'll agree: I wonder if I'll get to even half of that? We'll see I guess.

My dad is little over 23 years old - well that's what he keeps telling me - although I do see a flaw or two in his claim to being so young: especially when he's been 23 for the past 15 years. Speaking of 15 - my dad was the age of 15 when he left school, he skipped O-Levels and went to work on the roads for tuppence a month or some other ridiculously small amount - an amount which is over my head anyway, because I have tried to understand old money, yet to me it is more an institution for the old to talk about than any meaningful figures. Since then, my dad has done pretty much any job you care to think of from photography to a village bobby. He settled on the career of teaching when I was a wee nipper and is now working at St. Aidens C of E Technology College where he teaches maths, special needs and is head of careers as well as in charge of outdoor pursuits.

To the old teaching game my mother too was drawn - except she started many years earlier and has now been in the profession for 27 or so. She teaches Reception and Year 1: I'm not sure which is better - little kids at school, acting like little kids; or big kids at home acting like little kids (?!). My mums from Huyton in Liverpool and so we have a lot of family over there including my grandparents and young cousins.

My brother and I get on quite well and when he's not watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer, he's probably listening to dance music. Joe is a diabetic and was diagnosed at the age of two which means he has to constantly monitor his blood sugar levels and injects himself twice daily with insulin. Despite this, he leads a relatively normal life and it is for diabetic research that we have done a lot of fundraising for, in terms of long distance walking.

Further afield, my mum's mum and dad live in Huyton on the fringes of Liverpool and they are celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary in June 2003! My grandad used to be a fireman (to be a little PC-Risque, I shall use the older term - hell, I like living on the edge!) and as I grew up remember listening and being fascinated by the many stories he had to tell - many of them with a humourous undertone.

My grandma used to work in a telephone exchange in Liverpool and when she once bought our little cousins around (Rebecca and Michael who were then 6 and 4 respectively), they were talking about web sites. I thought this strange and told my grandma that when I was their age, the internet hadn't even been developed. She came back with when she was their age, the telephone hadn't even been invented! I could not argue with that!

My dads mum died before I was born and his dad died when I was very young so I only have a few, but distinct, memories of the man that used to be a fireman - a fireman on the steam trains.

I have a step-grandma who lives near Cleator Moor in West Cumbria, or Westmorland as it used to be called and is indeed still referred to as, by locals. Its a nice area and is in fact situated on the Coast to Coast long distance trail. When me and my brother were little, we would make signs that said 'Vacancies' and put it in the front window - problem was that we could never spell the word!

My Dad's sister is my Auntie Denise, married to my Uncle Anthony with their two children - and thus my cousins - Anthony (3 years younger than myself) and Elizabeth (a year younger than myself) - both are studying at Lancaster University.

They are from the North East and we go on our holidays with them every Christmas.