I was quite relieved when the house was finally sold and we had a bit of money to actually get sorted, and properly start our new lives in Cyprus. I was also a bit sad as well.
I don’t come from a very well off background, most of my family are either in debt, living on benefits or both! That’s just the way it is, I don’t think it is anything any of my family particularly do wrong. It’s just how life is coming from Hull, most of my family do try really hard to improve their lives.
I had always dreamed of settling down, having a gorgeous wife and owning my own house! That’s exactly where I had managed to get to living in Ipswich, I had worked hard and I guess I had actually achieved that dream.
I was still young though, and obviously a little bit stupid when it came to debt. Every time somebody offered me money I would say yes please! That’s ow it spiralled out of control. We had credit cards, and when we were offered a loan to pay off the cards it seemed like a good idea. Being a bit stupid though, instead of cutting the cards up when paid off I kept them.
Of course it was then way too easy to use them again and get even more in debt! That’s ow it managed to get so bad. Use the cards then get loan to pay cards off, use the cards again and then get bigger loan to pay cards and previous loan off!
It was a vicious circle, and at the time I was obviously too naive to notice how bad it was getting before it was too late. That’s why we ended up having to sell the house, partly because I was too proud to admit defeat and go bankrupt!
In hindsight that would have been the easier option, debt would have been cleared a lot quicker than it eventually took us to clear. But we probably wouldn’t have moved to Cyprus and had 10 unforgettable years there!
So that’ why I was a bit sad at the time, because we had lost the house. I mostly blamed myself for it, I had seen it happen to people before and I should have known better. I had hoped to provide a wonderful life for Hales in our own place and give her everything she deserved. In my eyes I had failed!
But moving to Cyprus I had the opportunity to still make a fantastic life for Hales, and I was determined to do my best.
I had had MS for about 11 years when we moved out there. I kind of knew that it was going to get worse eventually, so I needed to make Hayley’s life as good as I could while I still could.
I had researched MS enough to know that I was more than likely to get worse as time went on. I dreaded the thought of being a burden on Hales, that’s definitely not what she expected to happen when we got married.
I know that she will say that it doesn’t matter and she loves me regardless. But to have to sit and watch my wife do more and more to help me is the hardest thing for me!
Anyway I seem to have gone way off the story today, so I’ll finish this for now and try to pick up the story again next time.
Rob
My Life and My MS 