…my BAC1-11 touched down at Jersey Airport. I found my guest house and watched Borg beat Connors in the Wimbledon singles final. Two days later I rocked up for my first day in the offices of Turquands Barton Mayhew & Co.
As a recently-qualified accountant in 1977 I had many options. Employers were fighting each other for young and reasonably cheap professionals. The Channel Islands finance industry was expanding rapidly and I was one of a number recruited from the UK mainland around about that time. We’d stay for a couple of years, gain experience, have a good time and go home.
Only thing is, few of us ever went home. We’re either still here or dead. In my case I met a local girl, got married, had two lovely children (Eoin 29, Emma 27), got divorced. I broke for the border a second time in 2007 but, after an ill-starred couple of years in Ireland, found myself Back on the Rock.
A lot has changed over those 40 years. Maybe I’ll reflect on some of those changes over the next few posts.
Back On The Rock 
Wow. What a journey!
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Morning Sue. Very strange looking back. In 1977 I never for a minute guessed that I’d be away from Birmingham for too long. Now I rarely go back.
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Life can be so surprising. I hated the thought of settling in Kolkata, yet here I am, saying till death do us part.
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You don’t think you’ll move on again in the future Sue?
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No, I don’t.
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You found your home.
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Hi Letizia. Yes I guess I did. I don’t suppose I’ll move on at this stage. Hope you’re well.
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Looking forward to these posts. That’s not dissimilar to how we – and most of our friends – ended up in our little bit of heaven called Fredericton, NB, Canada. We all expected to be here “for two years or so” in our first jobs, in the late 60s/early 70s. 🙂
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Hello Jane. Isn’t it odd how one day we are swimming merrily downstream and then we get snagged somewhere that actually suits us well?
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I think this is where you were meant to be, Roy.
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I still think of Cork, Ireland as my spiritual home Juliann but there’s no doubt that Jersey has been a good adopted home.
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It’s good to find ‘home’ even if it’s not the home you originally thought it would be!
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That’s certainly the case Andrea. I had to look the Channel Islands up in an atlas (remember them?) when the job opportunity first came up. But it all turned out rather well.
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Sometimes life sets our course for us. You belong on the Rock!
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Yes Jill, it seems that way. I still remember the first few weeks when it all felt small and claustrophobic. But I seem to have adapted at this stage 🙂
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It’s amazing how one decision can lead to an entire lifetime, Roy. I sometimes look back and wonder where I would be had I not decided to buy the newspaper one day back in 1987. I rarely bought the newspaper and on this day I did and saw a job advertised that I applied for. If I hadn’t taken that one small step (which led me on a huge ride full of twists, turns and roller-coasters) I would probably still be living a fairly boring life in the city and would never have started writing. These concepts of synchronicity and fate can boggle the mind sometimes 😉
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Yes, one roll of the dice can change everything – we only realise much later. I was nearly a Ten Pound Pom – my parents enquired at Australia House in Birmingham when I was very young :-O
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You did a lot over those 40 years! It’s funny how the day-to-day can sometimes feel so static, only to look back when prompted by some anniversary date and see your life spread out behind you like a patchwork quilt, with a story in every square.
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So true Janna. And much of it we forget unless somehow prompted. Maybe my next little series of posts (when I get back from holiday) will awaken some of those forgotten bits.
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So many worse places you could have ended up, right?! And you met the love of your life:). Kismet.
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It’s a fact Kristine. Guernsey (our sister island) even 😦
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Wow, Roy. You told your life story in this post so succinctly that it kinda stunned me. I’m not sure how you did that…mine would have gone on for ages, unnecessarily. 😉
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🙂 Now I’ll start filling in the blanks, not from a personal point of view but how the Island has changed down the years, both for better and worse.
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A life of ups and downs, Roy… Well, you’re not the only one. I’m sorry Ireland was not for You, but it sounds like you have found your spiritual home, the place you feel you belong. I have travelled quite a bit (nowhere near as much as I’d like) and fallen in love with several places, but you just know when you’re ‘home’, don’t You? Xxx
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Hi Ali. I had every intention of remaining in Ireland but I just timed it wrong. Jersey is not a bad place to come back to though.
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