And then, finally, towards the end of our road trip, we drove from Leeds to Huddersfield. We landed in Huddersfield at noon, at the home of this gorgeous mother, this fabulous faceplant-sleeping baby ...
... as well as this beautiful father and this lovely doggo!
Rosie had hurt her foot just a few days before and was on crutches, poor woman! She said we were very welcome to come over anyway, but that it would be a mostly chill day rather than walking anywhere ... And we were like THAT'S AMAZING WE'RE VERY TIRED YES PLEASE. At this point in our travels, we were so ready to hang out in Rosie's and Marshal's beautiful lounge all day, just chatting and spending time together. And that's exactly what we did. :)
Georgia woke up!
Liam found toys. :)
And we watched some blues clips and Georgia was dancing - it was THE CUTEST THING. What else would you expect with these parents, though.
In the evening we went to Devour at the Dyehouse for dinner.
Tasty tasty bread!
And pizza! (Marshal and Georgia were also there, of course, just taking a little walk.)
Also, the gelato was great.
Rosie's overalls <3
When we got back, Marshal made us hot chocolate in his fancy hot chocolate maker and then I pretty much fell into bed and fell asleep. :)
The next morning, Marshal (with some help from Liam) was already busy making us brunch. Gosh, if you knew how we got spoiled by our hosts on this trip!
Good morning Molly!
This tiny tiny foot, I can't!
And then we had brunch outside.
Huevos rancheros. Gah, so good!
A group selfie before we go. It really was such a joy to finally see Rosie and Marshal again and get to meet their little daughter. <3
And then we drove south to Brownhills to return the hire car. This was the last view I photographed, just outside Huddersfield.
Back in the kitchen at Liam's parents. Hi Anne! :)
Liam and Anne rummaged in the attic to find Liam's old school reports. We had heard that they could be useful when doing an adult evaluation for ADHD (apparently ADHD symptoms can be so similar to symptoms you can get from trauma, that you need to be able to prove that you've "always been this way" - at least in the UK).
And even if they turn out not to be useful for that, they were ... interesting to read, for sure.
It's all there. In every one. They were all the same. Every school report, from primary school to sixth form said the same thing:
"Liam is intelligent but needs to pay more attention." "When Liam does concentrate he can achieve a lot more." "Liam is capable but must learn to not be late and must hand his homework in on time." "Liam can do some good work when he puts his mind to it, but he must learn to consistently concentrate and ignore distractions." "Liam lacks organisation and his notes appear to have no structure to them."
Endless variations of this type of phrases (plus plenty of "Liam is a cheerful, friendly student" and "Liam is a helpful and popular member of the class" thrown in).
It's devastating, seeing so clearly how a school system fails a child so massively. How did no one see the pattern? I was angry, so angry.
And Liam? He wasn't angry. He was relieved. Relieved that he's not making it up, after all - that he's not "just stupid".
I'm so angry that he was ever made to feel that way.
My neurodivergent darling! Being a team with you is the best thing that's ever happened to me.
After a night in Brownhills (we packed and had dinner with family, and I had pretty much run out of photo taking at this point), we took an early train down to London ...
... and made our way to Heathrow, several hours earlier than usual because of the long queues this summer - but we weren't allowed to go through security until just before our flight anyway. Ah well, better to be on the safe side! And then we landed at home in the middle of Swedish summer, after 18 days of wonderful UK memories.
It was such a good trip.
Little Sonny | the Creeper Returns
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