Name: Mark Thompson
When and where: Tuesday, April 5th, 2016 at Salamander, Mevagissey, Cornwall
Beverage: a very pleasant Cornish sparkling wine
Last time we met in person: on my visit to England in April 2015
Friends on Facebook: since December 2011
Friends in real life: since December 2012

I’ve known my friend Mal since 1992, and his whole family (parents Pauline and Trev, and sister Lucy) have become like extended family to me. They have kindly included me in many family events over the years, and they all came down to Cornwall for our wedding. In 2011, Lucy married Mark. Sadly I couldn’t come over for the wedding, but I finally got to meet him when I visited the following year, and we hit it off right away. Lucy and Mark bought a beautiful house in Cornwall a few years ago, which they visit as often as possible. The last three times I’ve been over, we’ve managed to coordinate our time in Cornwall so we’re all there simultaneously.

For the second year in a row, Mark’s birthday fell during our time in Cornwall, so we all went out to celebrate again at Salamander Restaurant in Mevagissey. We enjoyed a lovely meal, and covered many topics of conversation, with a special emphasis on I.T.A.: Lucy, Mal and I all went to school in Staffordshire, and so we were taught to read and write using this system. Mark did not, and I think he suspected we were making it all up.