Thursday morning at 6 o’clock, as the day begins. Quietly closing her bedroom door…

Our eldest granddaughter has become the first fledgling to fly from our Portuguese roost. She has headed off to Manchester.

A family feast was prepared on the day before she departed, but it was a most fraught affair.

Her mother was basically in bits all day. This is despite the fact that Mum and daughter fought like cats and dogs.

My granddaughter came down and we chatted for about 15 minutes. Gonçalo was jumping over her the whole time. At the end, my grandchild and I had a great big hug. Gonçalo got jealous and decided he wanted to join in, so it turned into a group hug.

My wife came downstairs after the family meal was over, and went to her bedroom. There she burst into floods of tears and loud sobbing. I went through to console her, and we too had a big hug. Gonçalo got jealous again, so it soon became another threesome.

My grandkid had to leave at 6 AM to get to Faro airport on time. I was up, but I did not hear her leave. Quietly closing her bedroom door?

She made the flight to Manchester OK. She is staying with a family she has met and befriended before.

She had stacked up several interviews for jobs before she left Portugal. An interview with a care home manager was passed with flying colours. But now she has to go through a practical, where she ‘shadows’ employees to see if she can hack it. That’s today, Saturday, and tomorrow, Sunday.

It’s not my cup of tea, but she wants to crack on, get her head down, earn some money, before she thinks about other jobs.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

She’s leaving home, bye bye.

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She's leaving home, bye bye