I have come to believe that there are two kinds of human beings that roam our vast earth: the nice and the bad.

It really is that simple.

Getting older and wiser, it has truly taught me the fundamentals of that.

People can either be nice, or they can't.

People can either have beautiful souls, or they don't.

Micheal, he was one such beautiful soul.

I never really liked any of mum's boyfriends. A couple were alright, I guess, but most of them I honestly couldn't stand. But on the day that I was first introduced to Micheal, I knew that he was an exception. For Micheal, was indeed an exceptional human being.

There was something so likeable, almost saintly about him.

He had this smile, that just never left his face. His was small in height, yet so large in personality. Right away, my nine year old self knew that she would soon come to adore this man.

Micheal had a genuine warmth within him.

A genuine personality.

A genuine heart.

Genuine wit.

He was just that...genuine.

He was to be the first American guy that my mum had ever dated. He was also the first black guy that my mum had ever dated. Everything about him, I loved.

Not once, did he ever treat Jason and I like the annoying and inconvenient kids that his girlfriend happened to have. He welcomed us into his life, which in turn, made us want to welcome him into ours. He would show us off to his friends whenever he would take us to the local American airbase where he was stationed. His base was appropriately 20 miles from where we lived, and we began to spend a lot of time there.

This was probably the first time that I actually wanted to spend time with my mum, because Micheal was bringing out a side to my mum that I'd not seen before. She would laugh with him, like properly laugh. She would be like an excited teenager, waiting for him to come and visit. She would even be affectionate with him, in a far more natural and less sleazy way. In Micheal, she found someone who not only wanted her for sex; he simply wanted her.

And he wanted us, too.

He became this incredible person to be around. He didn't only go out of his way to make mum feel special, he did the very same for me and my brother. On his days off as a Military Police Officer, he would take us to the air base, where we would enjoy going to the cinema, having American-made pizza, playing table tennis and other games in their huge recreational rooms, have a go at basketball and just listen to music back in his room—we had wonderful fun together.

The more we got to know Micheal, the more we all began to adore him. He would call me his 'little whizz kid', and I wanted to be his 'little whizz kid'. For the first time ever, I could see my mum falling hopelessly in love with someone. For the first time, a man was treating her with respect and loyalty; and that changed my mum.

Somehow, she had mellowed. A calmness, had taken up new residence within her. When she was with Micheal, it made me want to also be with her. This was to be, one of the best times between us. Probably one of the best times for us all.

As mum and Micheal became more serious, nan, gramp and my dad, all wanted to know whether I was really happy about them being together—and I truly was.

I loved spending time with him, as did Jason. I fondly remember one afternoon, he had pulled up in his car outside of our house on a beautiful sunny day. My mum had put on a pretty summer dress, took time to do her hair and make-up, and then had excitedly waited for his arrival.

"Hop in then, kids!" He had told us with one of his wide and toothy grins.

As our mum went to take her seat beside him, he then said. "Uh, what are you doing?"

Mum smiled. "Ummm, I'm getting in the car." She had told him, looking slightly confused as she did.

To which, Micheal grinned with a playful shake of his head and one of his hands. "Nu-uh. Not today, my love. Today, it's just the kids and I who are going out to have some fun."

"Yeah right." Mum told him, proceeding to sit herself in the passenger seat.

"Nope! I'm deadly serious. It's kids day only...so you need to let us get on with it." Flashing her a charming grin, she then knew that he meant what he had said.

Mum got out of the car, and could only wave us off when Micheal drove away tooting his horn and saying to both Jason and I. "Let's go, kids!"

That day, we had the best fun ever. And that was the day, when I had decided that I wanted to have Micheal to be my father.

With him, I shared a bond that I never had with my dad. With him, I felt safe and secure. With him, I felt loved.

Micheal himself, began talking of us all going with him to America. He was due to be relocated, and had sat me down one day to ask me where I wanted to go. "Okay, whizz kid, tell me where in America you would like to go? I can't say I'll get it, but I'll request it anyway."

I had honestly felt like someone had just handed me the moon in my hands. It was such a huge decision, so I felt honoured that Micheal was letting me choose. In the end, I chose California. Why? Who knows? In my young head, I suppose California was the place that first came to mind. And true to his wonderful word; Micheal requested that he be stationed in California.

It wasn't California, it ended up being Fort Worth in Texas.

So, at nine years old, I was excitedly planning on moving to America with Micheal. There were lots of talks with my nan and gramp, and eventually, a sensible plan was drawn up—Micheal and mum would go on ahead to Fort Worth, get all settled in, while myself and Jason stayed behind with our grandparents.

Both mum and Micheal said that they would visit in between those six months, and said that it would give them time to make our new home and school all ready for us before we arrived.

And we both accepted that.

Micheal was all set to fly out first, then once mum had everything organised her end; she would soon follow.

Jason and I went to live with nan and gramp, our new primary school were all ready for us, and mum began preparing to be with Micheal in Texas. She would literally be starting all over again. She sold pretty much everything in her old council house, to go towards everything that she would need in her new air base house.

As sad as I was to see Micheal go, I knew that in the long run, we would have the rest of our lives together. I knew, he would make my mum happy, and that he would make Jason and I happy.

My little nine year old mind, was so very full of the exciting future. Yes, it would be hard to leave behind my nan and gramp, and yes it would be hard to leave Lucy behind, too, but I knew in my heart that a future with Micheal, was the right future for me.

I felt it in my bones.

I felt it beating around my body.

Micheal represented a new start. New dreams. New hopes. New everything. Those dreams, hopes and everything, were literally within touching distance.

Then, my mum took it all away.

The dreams.

The hopes.

The everything.

Micheal....

......she took it all away.

"Hey, my little whizz kid, how you doing?" After being told by my mother that she wouldn't be joining him in America, he had asked to speak to me.

I was at my nan's, heartbroken and achingly devastated. Just to hear his voice, had me so choked up and hurting with my missing of him, not one word could I speak.

"You be a good girl, won't you? You'll always be my whizz kid, you know that? And I'll try and visit when I can, okay?"

Still, I couldn't say anything. All he could hear were my inconsolable sobs and my shattered dreams. "Just remember, I will find you, Mary Rose. It doesn't matter where your mom and you move to, I'll find you. I'll always remember where your nan lives, so just know that I will one day find you."

Just like many of my dreams....Micheal never did find me.