A Weekend Away



As i mentioned in yesterday's post, i took a wee holiday from work last weekend and headed down the West coast towards Prestwick.

i lived in Prestwick for almost four years whilst at uni, working part-time with young people in a local church  (the one whose steeple you can see in the above photo) to coincide with my studies, but this was my first visit in over 15 months. It's a strange feeling to be a tourist in a place you once called 'home'.




i stayed in the church manse with the minister (my old line-manager) and his wife, who were thee most accommodating hosts, and it was instantly like being back with a second family. i spent most of the weekend dining out and catching up with people: lunch with the minister & his wife on Saturday afternoon, dinner with a friend (and old youth work volunteer) on Saturday night, breakfast with the Bible Class kids on Sunday morning and dinner with the youth group on Sunday afternoon. Phew!



Excuse the multiple chins!

It was an absolute delight to reconnect with everyone again. We keep in touch over Facebook and Twitter, but nothing really beats a good natter over a cup of coffee! It's scary to see how much the young folk have grown and changed since i moved away (babies who were born in my last few weeks at work suddenly toddling and speaking to me; primary school children now at the academy and suddenly looking grown-up) and slightly surreal to think that the young woman in the photo above, who was a secondary school 1st year when i started working with her, is now in her 1st year at university. It makes me feel quite old.. but it also makes me pause and take stock of what a privilege it is to be able to invest in young people's lives and journeys. Wowee!


They had a fancy dress party on Sunday night which was jolly good fun..








Can you tell what they're meant to be?



..and then i finished off my long weekend with more tea and chat in Prestwick, and coffee with a good friend in Glasgow before catching the train back to the frozen North East.

It was such a lovely weekend.
Must remember not to leave 15 months between visits next time!


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