Reality Reflection: Twenty Years Ago This Week, July 2001

“You were there for summer dreaming; and you gave me what I need.
And I hope you’ll find your freedom, for eternity. For eternity” – Robbie Williams.

Reality Reflection: Twenty years ago this week, I met an English girl in Spain. July 2001. At that point in life, I only really knew about Northern Ireland. Everything else was alien. That foxy lady changed me. But this was pre internet revolution, pre mobile phone, pre – Facebook, pre-YouTube.

However, I had a mobile phone back home; she didn’t. She had an email address; I didn’t. On the holiday, we swapped postal addressees and afterwards preceeded to write to each other by letter, or postcard, in the post. We kept it up for around a year. I previously said I’d never leave Northern Ireland for longer than a month. 100% sure she changed my life. Two years later, I moved to England. 18 years after that (today), I haven’t lived in Northern Ireland since. We sang Robbie Williams as the sun went down… “She was there for summer dreaming. And she gave me what I need. And I hope she found her freedom. For eternity. For eternity.”

Thanks, Catherine.

“Hey, hey baby. Ooh aah. I want to know ow ow ow ow…if you’ll be my girl” – DJ Otzi (borrowed).