Funerals and Reading

Update – Last week I wrote about the TV programme Back in Time for School and said I would give it another chance to see if improved.  I did and it didn’t.  What a wasted opportunity to teach children that things have not always been as they are today – and by the time they are adults life will have changed again!

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Last week I mentioned that Colin, an old friend and married to my friend Paddy, had died suddenly.  On Friday we went up to Rugby for the funeral with my brother, who volunteered to drive.

The funeral was held in the same crematorium as Paddy’s Mum’s funeral which I was privileged to take. Colin had been a member of the Rugby Philharmonic Choir and the hymn ‘I Vow to Thee my Country’ blasted from their throats with a sound that must have reached Colin, wherever he was – it was beautiful.  As Colin was an ex Prison Officer and Chairman of the Prison Officer’s Association, there was also a large number of prison officers from the various prisons where he had served.  There is something about a huge group of men singing that moves me very deeply and the tears welled up.

While obviously I was there for Colin (who I honestly believe would have been so happy to have died and to be back where he belonged – with Paddy) just being there made me feel so very sad and to think about the past. I had been at the funerals of both her grandparents (paternal – Mum’s parents had died in the war), I had taken the funerals for her Dad and later for her Mum, I had spoken at hers and now it was Colin’s turn and it hit me hard that that was it – the end of the line really as she has a brother but he, too, had no children.

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Just wondering – why do you suppose a young person (or perhaps two or three of them) would throw a raw egg at someone’s window for no apparent reason.  Are eggs going to have to become a restricted item soon?

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I have a young friend who is currently studying at University.  She contacted me to ask if I had ever read The Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton and, if so, could I possibly help her by answering some questions about it!

Of course!  I remember having it read to me and later reading it myself.  I really wanted an older brother like Jo and I loved it until I moved on to my favourite, the Famous Five.

But, horror of horrors, things have changed – in the war-time edition the children were Jo, Fanny and Bessie, now they are Joe, Franny and Beth.  Dick has become Rick, Dame Slap is now Dame Snap and no longer smacks naughty children but simply tells them off.  The Saucepan Man no longer throws his pans at the Goblins but simply chases them.

When I read them, I knew the stories weren’t true but that didn’t stop me going on ‘adventures’ in the woods to look for a magic tree!  It taught me to use my imagination and to build up my own picture of what the tree and the people looked like.

Just because a child lives in today’s world, why must he/she be prevented from knowing things were different years ago?  I was at school with a boy called Willie Thompson, everyone called Richard was known as Dick – but now these are ‘rude’ words.  How sad this attitude of ‘protecting’ children is!

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Here’s an idea – currently Belgium (18 months), Sweden (3 months) and the Netherlands (7 months) do not have Governments.

How on earth do the countries manage?  Quite well actually – they just carry on living normally!

This may also be true of other countries throughout the world for all I know, but perhaps this should be pointed out to our MPs – unless you are elected you cannot be an MP or become a member of the Government, and if we do not elect you – you will be out!

Perhaps I need to point this out to our local MP – for whom I, in common with a lot of others, certainly will not be voting no matter how many times he manages to get himself in a photograph in the local press!!

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I hope you are all looking forward to another good week – stay safe and take care of yourselves.

x

Welcome to 2019

Happy New Year!  May 2019 be a peaceful, healthy and happy year for you and yours.

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Christmas is always a time of reflection, about Christmas in past years and those who are no longer here to celebrate with us.  You might remember that, in February last year, I told you that Paddy, a friend  from our first day at Grammar School when we were eleven, had died.

On the day before Christmas Eve I had a telephone call from someone whose voice I vaguely recognised but couldn’t place.  As you do. I let her go on talking, waiting to pick up a clue as to who she was when she suddenly said she had some bad news – her Dad had died.  It all fell into place and I knew who she was – her Dad was Colin, who had been married to Paddy.  They had been together for over thirty years, but had only married just over a year previously.  I kept in touch with him over the past few months but he just wasn’t coping and every conversation ended with him in tears, he missed Paddy so very much.

He had been found dead on his bathroom floor that morning.  A post mortem found he had died of a heart attack but his daughter and I were in complete agreement – he had died of a broken heart.  The Main Man and I will be off to his funeral this week – and, although I shall miss him it is hard to be too sorry.  He is where he wanted to be – back with Paddy.

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On Christmas Eve the Main Man, Senior Girl and I went to a traditional Carol Service at Church – and it was so lovely to be there.  The church was packed, with a lot of people standing, but everyone seemed to enjoy it.  Candles, warm church, beautiful singing – perfect!

Christmas Day here was very much a family affair.  The Senior Girl, the Cyclist and the Junior Girl were all here for the day, our Boy rang for a chat, I cooked lunch in between stopping to join in anything that was going on.  We all ate far too much – but I guess that is all part of the celebration.

Boxing Day, my brother and my lovely sister in law spent the day here for a traditional (in this family anyway) lunch of cold meat and pickles.  More food, more laughter.

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I’ve probably mentioned it time and again, but we have never bothered with New Year – it comes, I miss it, and when I wake up in the morning the date is different – job done!

On New Year’s Day we spent the day at my brothers with Senior Girl, Cyclist and Junior Girl.  Again we all ate far too much and drank quite a bit, we played board games and laughed fairly constantly – a great day!

No resolutions really – but this year I am really going to try and remain positive and be grateful for my life and not wish it was different, because it isn’t!

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Did you have a good time?  Did all the family traditions come into play?  Were you able to enjoy yourself – or was it just a time of stress and problems for you?

Whatever, it is over and we look forward now to another year full of blank pages for us to write on – the choices we make are ours so choose wisely.

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On a different tack – did you watch the TV Programme Back In Time For School?

The premise was the same as previous series of ‘Back in Time’ – to let modern people live the life of another era and experience what it was like.

This first episode was set in Victorian times into Edwardian times – and I was so disappointed in it.  The opportunities were there to really show children what life was like but the teachers were such a let down.  They were dressed beautifully (as were the children) but just didn’t even try to reflect other times – the Headmaster treated the whole thing as a joke instead of the stern, unsmiling person we expected.  As for the teachers actually telling the children that they didn’t want to teach them something because they didn’t agree with it – pointless.

Yes there were things that, with todays eyes, we would disagree with, but the purpose was to try and replicate the life of just over a hundred years ago.  Can you imagine a Victorian school allowing children to just shout out and chatter?

I’ll give it another chance this week and see if it improves!

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I hope you all enjoy the rest of your day and have a good week.

Please take care of yourselves and make sure you get some rest time as well as busy time!

x