Don't Push Too Many Trolleys

2Being a Husband and Father

When I was preparing to go on that trip to Asia, I knew I wanted to make a big shift in my life. I was 26 and had just quit a very intense job; and the whole world had just been totally shaken up by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I wanted to do something completely new. To mark this shift, I shaved off all my hair. It helped symbolize a completely new phase in my life. Little did I know that a much bigger shift was about to happen – I was going to get together with my future wife!

The first thing that ever struck me about Samantha was how attractive she is; both in looks and personality. Initially, I only thought of her as Chris's little sister, though, and it wasn't until we went travelling that Samantha and I bonded as friends through spending so much time together.

The Chinese side of Samantha's family are from a different part of Malaysia to mine. Samantha's father, Samuel, was originally from East Malaysia (Sabah), although she and her siblings were born in the UK to their Malaysian father and British mother, Valerie, who is from Manchester. My dad gave a lovely tribute to Samuel and Valerie in his speech at our wedding. He thanked them for welcoming me into their English home and treating me like a son. It was a huge comfort to him and my mum when they were so far away living in Malaysia. I think it was always important to me, too, that Samantha came from such a close-knit family like I did. She is very close to her parents, brother and younger ...