"Great" Malvern

When I first moved back to the UK after spending seven years of my life in Florida, the first place we came back to was Great Malvern, Worcester, England. Where most of my fathers family live and where he spent a lot of his teens and young adulthood. Any teen or young adult from this decade will tell you that there is nothing "Great" about Malvern, but really, where does that not happen? There are both "Great" and "Not so great" things about Malvern. yes, my favourite thing was some streets still had gas powered lamps. How cool is that!? Something you can't see just anywhere. It's more that there's not much to do for the modern day teen or young adult to do, it's more for family's with younger children, or adults. anyone in between is only there until they can move onto something bigger and better but in the meantime is in a job or studying until that happens. But for me I quite liked it, I would have liked it as a teen too. It's cosy, it has history, it has secret places to the town that unless you're a local, you wouldn't know about. It's a town.

Sadly, it lacked the everyone knows everyone bit of a town, not that anyone like's that these days anyway as that means everyone knows your business and you will forever be known as who you are, if you want to change that, your reputation in the town holds you back. But I never really had that as a kid, we travelled so much (which I'm not complaining about as it was worth it) but as a kid you make friends fast, it's now that I'm older do I not feel like I fit in anywhere. I find it harder to make friends, one's that aren't just friends for convenience or to use you, I find myself more awkward than I was as a kid. And I think because we're now all such social networkers we don't mingle well face to face any more. When you do something now a days it goes up on facebook, your blog, your twitter, etc. before you'd call your friend up to chat about it. And if we do get together we have nothing to talk about as we've already seen what the other has been up to this week via their status feed. So it make's it harder for someone like me, the forever "new girl" even after seven years can't really figure out how to settle when there's no environment to settle in?

Anyway, back to Malvern! My mother (pictured in the sheep's skin coat) doesn't really like this place and totally would side with all those bored teenage youngsters with nothing to do, that's because she's really a 20 year old at heart and easily loses interest in something if it seizes being entertaining for even a couple seconds. Or as she would say "Bored now!" I love my mum. But for me it's another place to discover, and the added bonus is part is that there's actually people I know there, even if they are part of my family who I either haven't seen in decades or ever met, but still, even if they don't like me they have to suck it up because we're blood related.

Take for instance the two handsome studs in the first picture, My brother (left) and my third cousin (Right) whose 17 in the photo, 17!! He looks like he's in his 20s! Not to mention he's been cursed with the personality and mind of a 30 year old. It's like throwing a clown fish into a fish tank with gold fish and hoping no one will notice. But he's lovely to be around and once you've met him leaves a very lasting impression. 

My brother is similar, he's got the energy of never ending battery but holds himself as if he's been living on this earth for centuries, in public he's charming and well behaved, and the conversation is that of someone much older, but in the shelter of walls he's a grumpy old man who can't find his false teeth.

Coming back here just made this so much more prominent, but seeing where you came from (the people not the place) does that to you. Even family you've never met, and it's more likely the family you've never met than the one's you see daily that can be JUST LIKE YOU!? But the place does help too, I had missed mountains and weather that was unpredictable, REAL grass, smells that weren't burnt skin or spliff sweat. Now it's more fake bake and fags but still. It was nice to see plants other than palm tree's or dead, yes, death grows in Florida, partially because it's a retirement home and now also the place cannibals go to eat.

It wasn't "home" but it was familiar.

I have since been back to visit, we went recently for a family reunion (which I'm sure I'll post up at some point) it was amazing to see the family tree, all these people who seemed to be nervous as heck to meet someone who was actually related to them not a "complete" stranger, maybe that was more pressure? But all in all it was an experience well worth doing. Even if it was a tad weird, all those people you've never met or could have passed on the street and you had no idea you were related. Make's you over think a lot doesn't it?