aes1

Thanks Rodney, I need that luck!!!

Trottytrue, when are you digging up St Joseph to rebury? Maybe we can have a joint ceremony, except I am not sure I remember where I put mine either!:

trottytrue

Aces1.... Will have to wait for the snow to clear but I would think sometime in March/April if we could keep clear of the snowstorms.

jasper123

Well trottytrue here we are in our 100th page, you should feel proud, and without you we would not have all shared our thoughts and helped each other so much in so many ways and we are just getting started, good on ya for starting this thread, I have been here from the very first day like so many of us, I know Dunroving and I think Ed encouraged you to start the thread, it has helped me so very much, I do not think I would have gone ahead with my U.S. citizenship if I had not got the support and encouragement from everyone that wrote on this thread, I had issues that I shared with everyone, Issues that were over 30 years old, but because of them I was afraid of applying, they were just a handful of small misdemeanors, everyone makes mistakes when they are young, but we learn from them, but I have been a U.S. Citizen now for 2 weeks, just waiting for my U.S. Passport to arrive in the mail, and you trottytrue have passed your interview and now you know that you will be a U.S. citizen real soon as soon as you have your Oath ceremony,
I am going back to my Birthplace of Portsmouth England in November, 2010
fare booked and paid for, I am going home for good, I feel its the right time in my life for me to make this huge change, altogether I have been away for 40 years, 4 years in Australia, 3 years in Canada, and the last 33 years in the U.S. in that order, i will be living with my Mum who will be 91 in June,
Anyway I just wanted to say thanx so very much to everybody out there who has encouraged me to go ahead with everything,
Through these months of reading all these wonderful peoples comments, thoughts, experience and wisdom it has helped me and so many others I am sure, in knowledge learned and just simply the Guts that we all need to do this thing, and the continued guts needed to sustain all the trials and tribulations and hard times that all of you are going through who are already over there in U.K. that have already made the move, I will be joining you shortly, and I can hardly wait, and thanx to you all I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that I am doing the right thing,
Rodney.

jasper123

OK Ed, It's Friday almost 8am your time in Scotland, almost 12 midnight here in Vegas, your Job interview is today, wakey wakey time to get up & go, eat your porridge and have a couple of cups of coffee to wake you up,I know you will give a good interview, be confident and just treat that job as YOURS already !!!! you own it,
Good luck, and many many many good vibes are going your way from all your friends, fingers and everything crossed,
Rodney.

Easterndawn

Unfortunately, my friend took me out for supper last night, and at around 11:00pm was you know where doing you know what in the bathroom from food poisoning, called HSBC at 0800 this morning and changed the date to Wednesday at 2pm. Still feeling horrible and still not able to eat anything. Hate being ill and even hate being ill alone even more. HSBC was very accomidating and nice about it, so now have to wait until Wednesday.

Bevm

I think it works best if you open a HSBC account where you are in your local currency, to get you going. You may even be able to open a UK account from there, and get UK credit cards. It'll be based at the UK headquarters in Coventry, but you can walk into your local branch when you're settled and be treated as already having an account there.

At least, that's been our experience.

If you're wondering why there are so many HSBC branches -- I was -- they took over Midland

Bev

aes1

100 PAGES!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who would have believed it????? We should be so proud of ourselves for making it this far on this thread. Do you think we will reach 1000???????? Do you think we should start a new thread soon, "MOVED back to the UK for over 50s and 60s"???? Soon there will be lots of us that started on this thread in that position. Rodney, you are so nice, your words are always so comforting and thoughtful.....please don't stop writing once you get back home. We have the pre-move posts, the move posts and the post-move ones too! You and I will be in the last category, along with Relocateme, and Trottytrue before the end of this year. Excuse me if I have left anyone out! Each and everyone of the posts on this thread have been valuable to me in their own special way (even the negative ones!!), I think now even more so as it gets closer to moving date. I only have FOUR more weekends here, including this one!! Quite a scary thought really. As I begin to tell colleagues and acquaintances I am leaving, and see some of my more treasured possessions go, I am beginning to feel a little sad and empty. Not sure why, possibly because I am losing my 26 year 'anchor' of living in this country, and am going into the great unknown, despite it being 'home' - it hasn't been for so long. Rodney, I am amazed at you for leaving after 44 years!!!! You are a true inspiration for those still hesitating.

ED, so sorry to hear you got sick. Food poisoning is miserable, especially with no one there to hold your hand. Hope you feel tons better soon!!!

trottytrue

Jasper, Rodney...... Thankyou but without everyone else contributing this thread would have got knowhere, all the helpful hints and web connections all help. You gave me the confidence to get my citizenship I was not sure I wanted to do it. I still have a little bit of a cringe when I think what I did my mum would not be pleased but it was the best thing to do.
Don't think you are of the hook when you return to the UK we need to hear from you all good and bad like Easterndawn has done she has really been brave.
I think we should all give ourselves a pat on the back for this thread and keeping it on message Some of us still have a long way to go but with encouragement from each other we will manage to get through it

Aces1.. I often think that once the house sells how will I feel, its like that present you always wanted and then when you do eventually get it you are not sure it was as perfect as you thought it was going to be. I realize things will never be perfect I will always be cut in half. Leaving behind my children will be very hard but with the internet it does make it easier. My son bought me a camera for the computer so I can now talk and see my grandchildren and it wont be any different when we are back home.

Beedubya

What lovely lovely posts from all of you tonight when I logged on. Rodney you seem - can I say it? Excited? Woohooo here you are coming home to this green green land after many years away, I hadn't realised you had lived in so many places, eas 4 WEEKENDS!!!!!! OMG the time will go so fast now!! I bet you can't wait, ED so sorry about the food poisoning, so remember on Tuesday night, just have a piece of toast and maybe a cuppa soup

Trottytrue and all you others trying to sell your houses and get back 'ome, know there are MANY MANY good vibes coming your way from our green and pleasant land

We REALLY do need to organise some kind of meet up for all of us right???

Beedubya

You know just thinking of EAS saying to Rodney "44 years away from home",
who has been away the longest in total?

Rodney - 44 years away

Me - well I left in 1981 came back in 1985 left again in 1986 got back last year 2009 so that makes me a spring chicken with 23 or 28 years away whichever way you look at it.

All the little chickens come home eventually

Relocateme

Relocateme....I have been away 35yrs (some visits)

jasper123

Hello aes1, Now I havent been away for 44 years, its only 40 years for me,
It all started for me when I emigrated to Australia at the tender age of 19, that was way back in 1965, but I only lived there for 4 years and then went back to England, worked there for 5 years and then decided to emigrate to Canada, and stayed there 3 years and then from there I entered the USA and have been here ever since,
So between Canada and USA I have lived continuously away from England for 3 plus 33 a total of only 36 years, but add the 4 years in Australia its 40 years total time living away from U.K.
aes1 you talk about selling your possesions, and feeling sad and empty as your date of departure is drawing closer and closer, and of your 26 year anchor of living in America, 0f course this is natural, we are all going to feel what you are feeling now, Im sure Ed felt it just before she left Canada and Im sure everyone did, I know that I will be so scared when I am just weeks away or days away from my departure, most of us have spent over half our lives over here, its tough enough when like me you dont have any family in the U.S. but to all you out there like Ed and so many that have and are leaving family behind its got to be a whole lot tougher and I take my hat off to all of you,
But we all made this huge choice to make this compleat change in our lives at our ages, and we all are going to have doubts weather or not it was the right decision to make but at the end of the day we all know that we are going home because our hearts are telling us that this old green land is where we need to be, is where we want to be,
And when we are all at home and we have been there a while and life becomes slowly but surely better for us, and if you are leaving family behind temporarily like Ed and when the time finally comes that her Husband and the two beautiful dogs are all in Scotland then they will be happy, but all our circumstances are so different, but we all share the big thing in common that we are all making this move together,
THATS what we all have to remember is we are not doing this alone we are doing it together, because we are all now friends thanks to this thread, and we are as close to each other as just sitting at our computer and talking to each other as we do now,
And aes1 No I promise that I will not stop writing when I return to the U.K. and as long as we all keep writing to each other and giving each other support and help and advice after we are all over there then especially the first year or so will be so much easier for us all,
Ed so sorry that you have food poisoning, please look after yourself and I hope you feel better soon, so we all have to send our vibes now for next Wednesday,
everything crossed for Ed ya all,:

jasper123

So sorry Ed about your food poisoning, but even more good vibes will be coming your way from all of us for Wednesday, good luck and fingers and everything crossed,
Hope you feel better soon,
Rodney.

aes1

Well put, Rodney, thanks, you are a kind hearted soul! I think I am feeling this way because it is my birthday tomorrow, and funnily enough, I have always been sad around that time ever since I have been over here and my children grown and so far away. There are certain occasions in the year when I think we feel the need for family more, and tomorrow, plus doing this whole move all on my own are difficult times for me. So, I shall try and relax for the day, forget my present concerns, and eat lots of cake

jasper123

Hi Barb, thanks for those kind words, how long have you been living in U.K. now, how long has it been since you left to go home?
And yes we really all do need to organise some kind of meet up over there, when I get back in November I would love to help with the organising in any way that I can,
Rodney.