This is a blog post that I have been so excited about writing, You see back at the start of the year, my son Zach took a job near Rotterdam as a green keeper at a golf course. We were looking forward to him coming home at the end of the season but then he met Amber, his girlfriend. They fell in love instantly and because of this, he has decided to stay in The Netherlands. We did manage to go and see him in the summer on our trip to Europe, but he had to tell us that they couldn't afford to come home for Christmas. I looked at going out there for the Christmas weekend, but as my daughter Kim is a carer, she cannot take the Christmas period off. So I had to choose between two of my children.
We were approached by the amazing people at Holiday Inn Express, who offered to bring Zach and Amber home as a surprise for everyone. So then 4 days of secrets and lies was about to start. Amber told Zach that they were going to London for an overnight surprise trip for their 6 month anniversary. They were flown in on the Friday night after they had finished work and then I had to start to tell Tilly and Kim some little white lies. Tilly was upset at the thought of not seeing her brother at Christmas and I told her that I was tired after all the weeks work. So I suggested we go to London, in fact my words to Tilly were ''lets runaway to London for the weekend'', of course as she loves London, she was more than happy for a stay in a hotel and I promised her that we would see the Christmas lights.
Little did anyone know, I had even got Zachs best friends girlfriend in on the act and she had told James that they were going to London for the day. James is like another son to me and Tilly's 'spare' brother. So of course we bumped in to them on the train to London, Tilly invited them to our hotel (by now James knew what was happening) and he played along, jumped in the cab and came to the Holiday Inn in Ealing. We were whisked up to a room and interviewed, Tilly and Kimmy had been told that we were making a video to send to Zach for a special Christmas gift, she wasn't too keen to do this because she just wanted her brother in real life. As we were interviewed on a bed in the room, there was a knock at the door and in walked Zach. Tilly just sat there with her mouth open. Shocked is an understatement. She walked over to him, hugged him and then pulled back to look at his face again, I actually think she was doubting that it was her brother. She hugged him again and kissed him and from that moment, she didn't let him go.
My whole family has been working hard to mend our family after it was destroyed last year and Tilly has just got back to being her happy self. Being kept from her brother is incredibly hard and Holiday Inn Express have given my family the best gift ever by reuniting them to have a Christmas in a hotel in London. The look on my babies face is priceless and it has given her memories that she will carry for the rest of her life. I want to thanks Holiday Inn Express for organising this for all the families involved.
As well as us receiving the surprise, there were two other people who were surprised, Sarah Hine from Southampton was shocked when her father Chris, who moved to Perth 12 years ago, emerged at the hotel reception desk as she went to check-into her room. “This surprise has brought a little ray of sunshine into my life and I'll be forever grateful. Thank you so much for bringing my Dad over, you won't know how much that's meant to me. I’m just so pleased he won’t be on the other side of the world this Christmas.”
Carl Amoscato had barely seen his sister Laura in the 10 years since he’d moved to the UK from US. He couldn’t quite believe it when she appeared as he was recording a message with his wife and two young children. “Seeing Laura and having her reunited with her niece and nephew is the best Christmas present ever. It’s so incredibly special to have her here in London for the holidays and I can’t wait for her to be a part of all the fun in the lead up to Christmas.”
We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Ealing, and you can book by clicking the link. Holiday Inn Express really gave us something that money can't buy, they gave us happiness for Tilly.