by Guy Lilburne
Chapter 21 - What a Wonderful World
As Jack’s impending birth got nearer and nearer I became more and more wrapped up in building the farm. I don’t really know what made the change in me occur so quickly. Maybe it was the fact that Jack would be coming along soon and I was trying to build a future for him. Suddenly, I found myself designing cow sheds and pig pens, duck ponds and chicken coups. I had a lot of land to work with and it was important to me that my animals were going to live happy lives too and enjoy their environment. I kept changing my mind about what animals we were going to keep, but it didn’t really matter because there were some absolute musts and the rest would just sort of drop into place. One of the certainties was the fish farm. I had already doubled the size of the original one and planted fruit trees around the edge of it. Any ripe fruit that we didn’t eat or preserve would drop into the fish ponds and help feed the fish. We had also designed and started to plant our own orchard with many different types of fruit trees. It was too hot to grow apples, pears and cherries but I could grow mangos, lychees, mangosteens, rambutans and all sorts of tropical fruits. We had also planned a beautiful garden for growing flowers and vegetables. A large part of the garden, the allotment, would be completely enclosed and covered with green netting because this would allow me to grow tomatoes and lettuce, beans, peas and cucumbers. It would keep out the chickens and more importantly the hot Thailand sunshine. Growing sugar and rice would still be the main stay of the huge farm but we were very happy and excited to diverge into animals for food production. I had even visited the local tractor showroom and picked out my brand new tractor. A beautiful orange coloured Kubota tractor. I didn’t really know what I was going to do with it but it came with three trailer attachments. So I was sure I could do something - probably plough something! I was becoming more like a farmer every day. There seemed to be something very satisfying about making a living from the land. I was feeling very close to nature. I was building, planting, growing and planning and I was feeling very happy and very content.
I was still travelling a lot between Bang Saray and Tuang Wang. I hated the long seven hour drive more and more each time I had to do it. I just had to do it, because it was very hard for me to stay for any length of time at Aon’s Mama’s house. I hated sleeping on the floor and getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. There was never any food for me to eat and there was nothing to eat it off anyway. It was very basic living and after a few days I was always very happy to drive back to Bang Saray and civilisation. The only problem was that we needed to supervise the house building. This meant that Aon was staying in Tuang Wang and I was travelling between the two places. But at least the new house was coming along and it was going to be beautiful when it was finished. It was 18th May 2015 and Aon was really big with Jack. He was due on 25th and Aon was struggling with the heat because she was so heavily pregnant. I travelled up to be with her and decided to stay until Jack was born, but I told Aon I would not be able to stay at her mother’s house. So I booked Aon and myself into a resort in Satuk and each day we travelled the short distance to see the new house. We also had regular checks at the hospital, but the 25th May came and went and Jack still hadn’t arrived. The Doctor gave it another week, but was a bit worried because he thought that Jack might be getting too big for Aon to deliver if he didn’t come along soon. That Friday we went to see the Doctor again and he said that if Jack didn’t come over the weekend then he wanted us to go into hospital on Monday 1st June for a caesarean section. Aon was a bit nervous but Monday came around and off we went to the hospital. Jack was born at 09:25am and weighed 3.7 kilos. He was just simply beautiful, so delicate and new. I held him and kissed him and loved him straight away.
“Hello Jack, I’m your dad,” I said. “I love you and I’ll try to make your life wonderful.”
Aon was sleeping off the anaesthetic in the recovery room and when she did eventually wake up she was tired and sore, but happy. She held Jack and kissed him. She looked beautiful. Jack should have been born on 25th May which was my birthday but he arrived on the 1st June which was Aon’s birthday. Wow! Three Gemini’s. It’s going to be busy.
I felt elated. Life felt so good and I was truly happier than I had ever been in my life. After a few days in hospital, we went back to Bang Saray for a week before, once again, going back to Tuang Wang to keep an eye on the house building. It was wonderful having Jack with us. We had waited for him for so long and now he was so much a big part of our lives. I loved holding him and cuddling him, just taking care of him. The house was due to be finished in July and we still had a lot to do, but we were getting there.
I had given up everything in England and moved to Thailand a few years ago. I had made a new life for myself and I was living my dream. My journey hadn’t always been a smooth one. I had made mistakes and had my own ups and downs, but I always knew that I could find the happiness that I was seeking in Thailand. I had found love and happiness and contentment. Leaving England was the right decision for me and I have the utmost respect for expats all over the world who have made the move to leave their own country and start a new life in a foreign country. It is not an easy thing to do and it will always mean that you have to leave family and friends behind. But for me it was the right thing to do. For most people I think just having the dream is enough and they don’t actually have to go out and try and live their dream. But we all need to dream. I think the secret of life is in knowing what it is that makes you happy and cling on to that happiness for as long as you can. Thank you for taking the time to read my book and I sincerely wish you all the luck and happiness. Follow your dreams if you can.
About the author
Guy Lilburne was a Policeman for 30 years and a Detective for the last 27 years of his service. He has worked in CID, Murder Squads, Drugs Squad, Vice Squad, Special Enquiries, and various Crime Squads. He has also worked in a specialist Covert Unit and in a Cold Case Review Squad. He has been writing for over twenty years. Author of the Best Selling books ‘My Thai Story’ and the Detective novels ‘The Thai Dragon’ & ‘The Kiss of the Dragon’, he has spent many weeks at the top of Booksmango’s best sellers list.
Guy Lilburne lives in Thailand and spends his time travelling and writing. His last blockbuster novel was ‘Thai Shorts’, a collection of short stories as only Guy Lilburne can tell them. Guy Lilburne really captures the taste of Thailand and whisks you along at a breath taking pace in the land of smiles.
Guy is currently working on two future books:
‘Living the Dream’ is a wonderfully warm and funny story of a group of ex-pats living in Pattaya, Thailand. They get into more trouble than a group of men their age should!
‘The lost temple of Kanchanaburi’ follows the exploits of Steven West (from the book, The Flower Girl) as he tries to make it in Thailand as a monk!
Also by the author.
The Thai Dragon.
My Thai Story.
The Kiss of the Dragon.
Cocktails & Dreams.
The Flower Girl.
Tika.
Graham, Just one Shade!
Snatched.
Thai Shorts.
My Thai Story II.
Coming soon.
Living The Dream, due out early 2016.
Visit Guy Lilburne’s fan page on Facebook~The Thai Dragon
