The early days of stroke recovery had a lot of my friends wanting to visit (which was 6thoughtful and lovely.

One of the first was my friend Joe a 6foot+ runner and one of my ex gym buddiesthe next day my best work buddy Ben came, agsin he’s over 6 foot, with a baby face but ripped and genuinely one of the nicest people I know. My sister met both also my then oldest friend Tom who drove 2 hours to see me, Tom Is also a tall handsome man my sister met all 3 of these men in orderacross 3 sequential days and asked me if I was building my own, avengers squad of tall, attractive, muscular, strsight men, I realised that possibly I have built this over the past 36 years benvengers: assemble!

I will say each of them despite being incredibly handsome arent just my friends forthat reason; all have wonderful personalities.

Tom I’ve known since I was a child, we usually plan our year around weekends at his house (or vice. Versa)with his wife Charl whom I also absolutely love and their beautiful little boy Alfie. We have our own bedroom in their house because we visit so often Tom knows me incredibly well. One of my favourite things he does is when we drink beer together he often strokes my hair which he enjoys Douing and I love being fussed.

Ben will appear multiple times through this journey, if he weren’t straight I’d have tried to marry him years ago,lhave offered todo other marital things with him many times, never with success though however he sometimes feels like the other side of my brain, the more practical one. At work if I ever need a reassurance or an opinion he was the only person I asked because h trusted his judgement He knows me from my self righteous morals to my dark humour. It’s like having a twin at times. He was agood friend to have through rehab to message frequently and he always responded withhonestly and kindness

Joe I met in my first day in my current job and we became friends quickly with a shared sense of humour. And symmetrical taste in foods. We’d often have little dinner dates and go grab a Nando’s or pizza or even better spend a night in playing games with beers. You know when someone requires no effort to talk to, that’s my Joey. He’s also permanently bright with his outlook so good to bounce off when I was feeling a bit low