Worcester, Oh how I miss your warm and inviting embrace! Your lovely green hills, river Severn, and curvy country roads made me feel so safe and snug as if I were wrapped in a nice soft blanket. In your loving town, I found a natural home- people who cared enough about me to show kindness, who would at any given opportunity step out of a box to see if I were ok and dear friends who would help pick me up out of the most major crisis I had faced in my life to date and hang on to me with a fierceness that would never, ever let go.
He was like an angel who had welcomed that lost kid from Bangladesh to, yes, the “happy” world of Worcester all those years ago, back in 2010. No matter our ages, no matter our cultures—it is how kind Simon Cronin is to any human being he meets—I could see that from day one. I’ll never forget—he was a middle-aged white bloke working for the bus company on ours, and everybody’s delivering papers route—when he started to give me and the other three Thai restaurant guys in Pershore rides to the mosque in that family´s, busted, old minivan, Sunday mornings, after those Saturday long overnights in the kitchen.
Simon’s old maroon car became our magic travel machine, allowing me to look at the stunning nature around little Worcester. Tall but so peaceful Malvern Hills became our special place to breathe some fresh air, see such wonderful views, and be so calm next to my good friend Simon. Pretty rivers flowing through Pershore to Evesham made soothing sounds to all our fun adventures together.
Everywhere Simon took me, I saw even more beautiful places across Britain. We went up huge mountains in Scotland; we rowed across calm waters in the Lake District, and we played on the sandy beaches from Wales to the southern coasts. Anyway, wherever I went, Simon was there with me so that I knew he was my best companion, a wise tutor, and a trustworthy senior I could confide my inner anguish and grudges as a refugee. I used to volunteer for “Just After 8 Charity shop’ in Pershore back in 2010.
Simon, my real-life superhero, who fearlessly guarded me when cruel people attempted to rob me of my dignity through the vile crime of human trafficking. When my strength was finally restored 3 months later, he welcomed me out of the bitter cold into his cosy, secure home. Simon has always seen great potential in me, particularly my long-held aspiration to become a lawyer and protect the helpless from the horror of being trapped in such a nightmare. Through countless video calls, typically late in the evening since English was then now my primary language: Simon, my patient tutor who lectured and taught me all the valuable information I should ever need to master regarding each of the many laws & their respective standard legal cases.
Losing extraordinary Simon so suddenly from this Earth last Spring tore a massive hole in my heart. Astonishing Simon, this splendid, beautiful human that enveloped me with dignity, love, and bonus parental care. In a moment, gone. Our Christmas traditions together of me creating delicious, fragrant curries he loved and my special red spinach all Sundays, while we relaxed by the fire, are sad memories, forsaken, causing me to wonder: Is there no one to do this with now?
There is one thing I want in life: unconditional love and welcome from Worcester, Pershore, or Evesham. If you are such a caring person who welcomes different refugees to your community, I wish you could kindly show me back to the loving community of Worcester. I want you to be that new face Simon once was in Worcestershire. Together, we can make new happy memories to honour my friend while making my saddened refugee heart feel up again for once the warm hugs of Worcester’s lovely hills and wandering rivers. I have recently got my refugee status in the UK and aim to finish my Bar (Law) degree this year. I live in Newcastle Upon Tyne.
So all I implore is for you fine town Worcesteranites to open your hearts to a teensy window and let in this homeless unfortunate refugee lost and yearning to belong once again to your kindly, piteous, good-natured spirit. Simon was a sanctuary, but because of that, he is an out-of-the-blue freebee gift, whose imitation I only wish I may feebly emulate once more within the arms of Worcester’s kindly embracing community. Can it be that there might just be some mournful pulsating hands and shared madness waiting to burst out of the refugee and find their divisive yet harmonic abodes in the haven of doughnut shops and predictably unpredictable daily a-to-b and endlessly hilly home of mine that is the burning flicker so rekindling known of itself all as the kind and swift town of tearful and laughter joy that far outweighs my meagre, ruined words’ underconfidence in the hopeful potential of Worcester? I can be a chef; I can visit you as a friend, plus if you are interested in law! Is there a chance for me to find a friend among you? I may not have much, but I can cook tasty food and be a good friend. So, is there anyone willing to give me a chance to come back? Thank you!
Some of my vlog with Simon-