Lisburn Exiles Forum

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The Lisburn Exiles Forum is dedicated to the memory of James Goddard Collins (The Boss) who single-handedly built LISBURN.COM (with a lot of help from many contributors) from 1996 to 29th November 2012. This website was his passion and helping people with a common interest in the City of Lisburn around the world is his lasting legacy.


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Had the grandchildren for a few days. The wee girl, two next month, brought her boots and socks to me. She knows I drive the car, and she already associates that with going somewhere nice. Her brother, six, who thinks I can play with him twenty four hours a day, is perhaps a bit vexed at the spread of attention. What marvellous problems to solve!
As I said in my poem, I/we could hop on a plane and go almost anywhere, but, unlike you proper travellers, we’ve only been on package holidays, albeit the best of them were to places like Le Sport in St Lucia, and La Source in Grenada. But keeping the grandchildren happy is just as much fun.
Sailing in a Caribbean Bay and tasting wondrous fare were sometimes, but not always linked. A Marco Pierre White meal in a London restaurant some years ago, and staying a couple of nights in a suite at Le Meridian, Piccadilly, at my son’s expense, are among the luxurious highlights of our life. But a sandwich in the old car with the kids is just as good.
And despite very tough times as a teenager, I can recall being as happy as the proverbial sandboy, going round to the bookies, Coopers, or later, The Bridge, in Lisburn to pick up my couple of quid winnings, and having the pleasure of buying somebody a pint. That may stick out in my memory as a pleasure because it so seldom happened.