Friends and family

The adage goes that you can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family. 

We possibly disproved that statement on Easter Sunday when we rocked up to stay with an old friend and his family just south of Bonn. 

Easter Sunday in the sunshine the scene set for a 10 plus year reunion. A chance to cover all the ground that’s happened in that time. 

But no. It wasn’t to be. As we reversed down the drive my friend Andrew noticed fluid dripping onto his driveway. Fearful it was oil that would scar the front of his house I quickly looked under the van to work out the cause. It wasn’t oil but water. Red water. That could only mean one thing. Coolant leaking from the veins that ensure Jenifer keeps her cool what ever the weather and speed of travel. 

There was no way we could continue. While it wasn’t a flood it was certainly enough to ensure meltdown in and hour or two on the road. 

So within 15 minutes of arriving, with out so much as a cup of tea the front of the van was unceremoniously removed. The radiator extracted and the front of the engine exposed. Where it was evident that there was a leak in a pipe that connects the water pump to the inlet manifold. Some ptfe tape wound round the thread of the joint. The problem solved.

Three hours later everything was back together and the catch up proper could begin. Food, drink and conversation flowed in abundance. We are truly blessed to have friends like Andrew and Tina.

I wonder whether Andrew would choose me as his friend given another chance. We’ve been friends for so long I now feel as if we’re family and he no longer has the choice. 

Baku or bust it is.