After getting quite a high pass from junior school at 11, he followed his sisters to Coopers School which was then a Grammer School and came away from there at sixteen with several O levels. He went on to Youth Oppertunities scheme and worked for the travel people Cosmos for a while until he got a real job.
When we decided to move to Milton Keynes he opted to come with us although he was 18. He had some difficulty getting work at that time and was unemployed until early 1984, when Ken, who was a security officer in the the then very new shopping centre said to him that they were very short of officers and although he was not the right age (they were all supposed to be 21 and over) how would he feel about doing six months probation in the job. As he said six months work was better than none. At the end of the six months there was no reason to let him go as he had done all that was asked of the job. Ken at that time was his superior and was very hard on Brian because as he said there could be no show of favouritism by the fact he had known Brian all his life. He has been there ever since. This coming April he will have been there 17 years.
He has worked his way up, he became assistant supervisor on his shift, and then supervisor and is now Floor Manager.
He met his ex-wife Sarah here when she was also a security officer. and they married in November 1986 and Hollie was born in August 1987. Unfortunately the marriage did not work and they got divorced, at which point he came back here to live. They still get on very well and they have joint custody of Hollie, but she lives with her mother. Sarah has since remarried and has another daughter Clementine 5, and Eliot 3. Brian babysits for them all when the need arises, and on several occasions when Hollie is coming here Clem comes as well. They are all moving to Devon before Christmas, so Brian will only be able to see Hollie on his time off. This will take some getting used to as he sees her every day some weeks at the moment. He is the firm hand as Sarah is a "Bit soft" with Hollie sometimes, especially now when she can be a rebellious teenager. things like being sent to buy school shoes and coming back with boots with 4 inch heels.
Over the past few years he has been abroad quite frequently, twice to Disney in Florida, several times to Euro Disney, This year he went to St.Louis and stayed with cousins Art and Deb Rowe.
He reads a lot and I mean a lot. Like me he is a Star Trek and Stargate fan. He plays golf with his two brothers. Several years ago he and another security officer walked the penine way. Frightening really as you are very often completely cut off from civilisation and it was before mobile phones were invented. so we had to rely on phone calls when they were near one and postcards. Brian and I went and picked them up at the end. The Penine way goes from Edale in the South to Kirk Yetholm in the North. Along the way there are some "bunkhouses" which are attached to farms and pubs and the like but several nights they had to camp out as they were stuck in between. The weather was not that brilliant for a lot of the time either and they on occasions got very cold and wet.
He is joint carer with me for his father for which I am extremely grateful as on the occassions Brian has had a fall there is no way I can get him up.
Post script 29.10.2000: During this last week he has been a tower of strength to his father on the sudden death of his half sister. Taking time off to come with us down to Kent., and help in whatever way he could.
