Today I give thanks and praise, not in a religious way , but in my own gentle atheist ,way , for….
1. Our neighbours and all those who helped to organise ‘The Coldershaw Road Diamond Jubilee Street Party’ .It was fab .To be honest ,John and I were dreading it .We have such happy memories of Jacob,Rosie and Florence ,running around and playing with friends and neighbours at the Millennium and Sliver jubilee Parties, that we didn’t think we could face it . But we held our heads up, put our shoulders back , took a deep breath , wheeled out our table tennis table and added our 40 samosas to the heaving table of food …. and it was good .People were lovely and kind and chatty .The live bands were fantastic and what struck us ,was the sense of ‘sharing ‘ everything .There was tons of international food and the trays of rum punch ( Grenadian,Jamaican and St Lucian) /Pimms/strawberry fizz ,just kept coming .I’m glad we went .
We could have stayed indoors and watched TV .But I was reminded of the wise words of Paula , when we were sitting with Declan and Mark outside a bar in Corfu in 1981,having had one too many ouzos, and some foppish British guy came up to us and asked ‘are you from the flotilla?” and Paula replied ” what’s a f*****g flotilla? “. But I bet the Queen loved it – even though she did look perished .
2. The Bucks Emergency Services, the staff of The Saracens Head ,Beaconsfield and the people at the table behind us in The Saracens Head , who when asked moved to a different table , did. As I said yesterday , 7 of us went out for lunch .Poor Auntie Grace ,took a turn for the worst and passed out at the table . She really was quite poorly . We moved the table ,lay her on the floor and by the time the paramedics arrived ,she was coming round .The last we saw of her was being taken of to High Wycombe Hospital with her son Philip . She is back in her residential home now .Next time ,it’s tea and cake on the lawn there .
3. To the friends and relatives who show sensitivity and acknowledgement for us not having and yet continually yearning for Rosie . This is probably too deep to go into now, but I was knocked sideways yesterday when I bumped into someone who had known Rosie well for 19 years and he was describing a function he was going to in a church hall in Ealing . He couldn’t remember the name of the church and he described it to me saying the name of the road- Ridley Avenue. I put him out of his misery and said ‘it’s St Paul’s’. What I didn’t add , but wish I’d had the balls to do so was that it was the church where Rosie’s funeral was so how could I ever forget it and how it must have meant little to him , that he couldn’t remember it and had the insensitivity to go on about it in such a dismissive way to me.
Answers- The Waterman’s meal was always poached salmon, new pots and salad followed by raspberries and cream
Gin and It is gin and vermouth ( half dry and half sweet)