I was 17 years old when I fell pregnant with Ben, not the smartest move... when I had my whole life in front of me, but something inside my head kept telling me to have the baby.

My relationship with his father was not great, so it was mutually decided that I would go home to my parents and bring the baby up by myself.

My parents were not pleased with my situation but they loved me and stood by my decision and helped me through everything.

Ben was born in the early hours of 29th October 1989, he weighed 6.6 pounds, he was the most beautiful little thing I had ever seen.

My mum was at my side all through the labour which lasted 8 hours, she even watched Ben being delivered.

My mum said it was the most wonderful experience.

I instantly bonded with my baby and had no regrets of my decision, I could feel, it was going to be hard but he was going to be worth it.
I spent 3 days in hospital and learnt how to care for my son, the nurses were fantastic, I thought at first because I was young that no one would have any respect for me but I was wrong.

The nurses came and explained everything I needed to know and my mum was there giving me all the advise and support I needed.

When I arrived home with Ben all my friends came to see him and said how beautiful he was and how proud they were for making such a brave decision.

Everyday that went by, my love for my baby grew and grew.

My mum and dad loved Ben so much, he was a very special little boy to everyone in our family.

My brothers, Stephen and Danny loved playing with Ben and loved him like a brother.

The days and weeks went by so quickly and Ben grew so fast.

He had a very healthy appetite and was a very good boy, I was so proud to be his mummy.

He smiled and laughed with me everyday.

Ben was a very clever little boy, it did not take him long to crawl and as soon as he could stand he was walking, then there was nothing stopping him, he toddled about everywhere, he no longer wanted to be carried or go in a pram.

Every single day, it was a pleasure to be around him, he loved to dance and play.

True, it was tiring at times, as he had so much energy but being around Ben always made me happy.

I loved it, just sitting around with Ben, just me and him learning him something new, as he learnt things easily.

Ben's first word was obviosly mummy, as I was the first person he would see in the morning and the last at night, I loved to hear him saying his own little words too, the sound was so sweet.

Every day Ben was learning something new.

Ben became very independent and always loved trying to do things himself.

It was quite entertaining to watch.

Ben always managed to get everyones attention whatever he was doing.

He was such a happy little boy, always smiling and laughing with whatever he was doing no-matter where we were at the time.

Our journey to Greece, was such an adventure, we boarded the coach from Sheffield to London, it was 6 hours long, I had packed us some drinks and food to eat on the way.

We were really excited, Ben kept asking "Going to nanny now?".

I told him "Yes, will be there soon".

We managed to get a little bit of sleep on the coach which helped as we had 4 hours to wait before we could board the plane to Athens.

We walked all around the shops, looking at all the beautiful things for sale.

I had never seen such things in my life and neither had Ben.

All the jewellery and sparkly things Ben pointed at and said "pretty".

I was amazed how relaxed Ben was, as I was really terrified... it was the first time I had ever been on an aeroplane and this long journey.

I took Ben to the window and showed him tbe planes, I told him we were going to fly, to see nanny and granddad, he jumped up and down shouting "Yes Yes Yes".

Ben was very tired by the time we boarded the plane, but I kept him occupied till take after take off as the on board pressure would pop his ears and would wake up with pain in his head.

We sat back and as the plane started to taxi, we played a tickling game, so we would laugh loudly.

As the plane took off Ben became a little scared and started to cry, the stewardess came over and brought him some crayons and paper and he was fine again.

We coloured and drew all sorts of pictures.

Ben scribbled, but it was a great deal to him. Obviously, drawing means a lot to children his age.

We landed in Athens worn out but very excited.

The last leg of our journey had arrived and then we would be with our family again.

We took a taxi from Athens international to the domestic airport.

The heat was wonderful, we had left the freezing city of Sheffield to live in a bright warm country.

I remember feeling so overwhelmed.

I held my emotions in control, as we had another flight to go until we arrived on Kos,

This part of our journey, took only an hour.

Ben was great during this flight, over and over he said "nanny nanny", "dad dad", which did meant Granddad, but had not yet learned to pronounce the letter G.

At last we were landing, we looked out of the window and could see the whole island, and it was so beautiful.

Our new life had just started, I was so happy I couldn’t control my tears of joy any longer.

We went to collect our baggage and went to look for my mum and dad.

The sun was blinding and so warm, I did not expect it to be like that in April, it was wonderful.

I heard a voice shouting "BEN BEN", it was my mum.

Look Ben its nanny I told him, "nanny nanny" he shouted and ran straight to her arms, it was like we had never been apart.

I hugged my dad; Danny, Stephen and then my mum last, as Ben would not let go of her.

He kept saying"Yuv you nanny".

Our new life started here and now, we arrived at my parents' and the feeling was so good.

Ben played around the garden with the dog (by the way, was also called Ben).

We went to our apartment and dropped off all our things and started to make up our new home, the thought of going back to England had never entered my head.

I knew that I needed to work as I did not have any savings in the bank.

It would be a totally different way of life for me, I had not worked properly since getting pregnant with Ben and I was looking forward to it.

My father and brother Stephen worked in the building industry and doing well, the language was very difficult for them to understand but seemed to manage ok.

Danny my younger brother went to Greek school, although he was aged 11 he had to go in the infant class to begin with the very basic.

It was very hard for him but again he enjoyed it, he made friends very easily and loved the fact that school was finished at dinnertime and had the rest of the day to go to the beach.

It was towards the end of April when I got a job working as a waitress at a local hotel Palm Beach,

It was a family run business, not too big, it had a restaurant for breakfast and evening meals and a pool side bar and snack bar.

I took to the work very easily as this was the job I had done before I had Ben.

My mum and myself worked shifts so there was always someone to look after Ben.

Ben was always allowed to come to the hotel to play in the pool with the other children that were holidaying there, if by any chance, my mum and I worked the same shift in the afternoon.

Ben loved to be the centre of attention.

He loved the water in the pool, so we always had to make sure he was wearing his arm bands.

Everyone loved him at the hotel he was a real entertainer.

I remember one day as if it was today when I could hear him calling "cat cat cat, mummy cat",

I looked at him holding this lovely kitten and he jumped in the swimming pool with it, Ben thought it was so funny he couldn’t stop laughing.

Mind you, the kitten was not amused, it got out and sat at the edge shook off the water and mowed at me.

I went to the kitchen, got some milk and ham from the fridge, Ben came and sat beside the kitten and shared his dinner.

Everyday after this event, the kitten came back to the hotel for some dinner, I knew no one owned him so I fed it scraps that were left, and Ben named him "Cat".