The shock
We were happy and although we could not be together all the time, we communicated by phone and computer daily and wrote to each other on a regular basis. It was on my 38th birthday when Paul phoned me. " I have some bad news 'they think I have cancer'....
I could have imagined a better birthday present but talking to him always made me feel better. I could feel his pain and sadness and we talked as long as we could. Only one week after this awful message Paul was admitted to the hospital. There were still issues with his ex partner and visiting him became a real challenge.
Fortunately with the help of the hospital I was able to see him daily and our faith and love gave him strength and hope. I am so glad I persisted and was able to support him. We often said to each other, it is like all these challenges are testing us how strong our love is. At that moment I decided I was going to move over to England. Even though there were so many obstacles and struggles our love always won. He recovered from his operation and we started a life together.
Painful moments and happy days
I moved over to England and we rented a house together. Our dream had come true, we were together and we slowly started to build a life. We moved to an area where he could be close to his family, which he had been parted from for a long time. It became a very happy time for both of us and we enjoyed every minute of it. We loved music, singing, walking nn the Dales and going out. We had many nice and cosy evenings cuddled up watching a good movie or just talking about life or the special moments we had on the net.
Although his ex partner made it not very easy for him, with his new strength he could face his problems much better. Paul divorced 14 years ago and had a son which he loved intensely. Inspite of the many moments he struggled with his illness he continued to work and visit his son on his only day off. He did not want to miss a week, only if he would be too ill.
In 1999 the cancer had come back and Paul had to go through another operation. He recovered very well but the chemotherapy afterwards became a real struggle for him. During this time we discovered that I was pregnant and although it was a happy event, it was overshadowed by many complications. It was my first pregnancy and it was very hard to lose the unborn child.