If you've read my book, The Inconvenient Need to Belong, or even if you've just started it, you will have come across the characters of Joan and Trevor. I'm in no way ashamed to admit that I drew heavily on my grandparents, Joan and Trevor, for these two. In fact, barring the backgrounds, they basically are my grandparents, and they are the most extraordinary people. Joan's husband left her in the 60s with four children to raise on her own. She worked two, sometimes three jobs at a time to bring up the kids on her own, but she never lost her sense of optimism or her ability to always look on the bright side of life. She was an inspiration to them growing up, and she has been an inspiration to me my whole life. When at university I had to do a biography on someone, I knew exactly who I wanted to do it on. And while I had always known that Joan was an incredible woman, I had no idea how incredible until I began to record her life. I'm not going to give too many spoilers here, as Joan's life may yet be the basis for my second novel, but suffice to say that in life, as in The Inconvenient Need to Belong, Joan sucked the marrow out of life. Once the kids had left home, she decided it was her time to go out and experience the world, travelling extensively on her own in the 70s - well before guide books were ubiquitous and took the adventure out of everything. And Joan could find adventure wherever she went. As could Trevor, which is probably what made them such a good match. Marrying later in life, they made up for lost time by being two of the most larger than life people I knew, especially as a child. They loved each other fiercely, and I was so fortunate to have them both in my life. They both taught me the importance of defining your own expectations and defining your own sense of happiness and satisfaction. Sadly, Trevor left us a few years ago, while Joan - now 94 - is in a care home that was the basis for Pinewood in the book. I know when Joan leaves us, she'll go to join Trevor and they'll be laughing and dancing again.
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