Today Mikee has turned 13. I first saw her when she was around 2 years old in Manila. And she first came to Knightstone in 2007, four years old. From May 2010, when she was seven, she moved permanently to Knightstone and started her first school at Sidmouth. Since then she has lived with us. She has known what she wanted in life from a very young age. Already after the first time she visited England in 2007, she knew that she wanted to study here and live with her Aunt and Uncle at Knightstone. And with enormous determination and a great deal of charm she succeeded to persuade everyone, parents and grandparents and ourselves and the British consulate.
Mikee is now an important part of our family and Eric and Mikee are like brother and sister. Mikee is studying at Maynard School in Exeter. She enjoys languages and is reading French, German and Latin apart from English. She also enjoys drama and music and takes lessons in singing and piano. And like Eric, Jennifer and I she enjoys travelling around the world.
Tarka the Otter
The day before her birthday Tarka the Otter, an opera, had its premiere at Exeter Cathedral. It was set up by the Two Moors’ Festival that arranges concerts and performances, where young people participate, and it opened in the presence of the Countess of Wessex, the wife of Edward, the youngest of the Queen’s children. Mikee auditioned through her school and got a little role, where she could sing and act as one in the choir. The performers moved around a lot through the cathedral and my photos show her both behind and in between the audience.
Today, her birthday, was the second day she performed. These are late nights for her, but she has half term, so she can sleep in the morning. We had lunch at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant in Exeter today and before that Mikee walked into an Apple shop and selected her birthday gift, a new iPhone 6s in rose gold. We have to be thankful that Eric is slightly less expensive — yet! But Mikee has worked hard and is well worth a reward. And she gives all of us in the family a lot of pleasure
