Cafe culture

While Ben was slaving over his English Language IGCSE, I spent the afternoon in the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens. It was a special day for me, as I was meeting up with my half-niece, after a gap of nearly thirty years. The last time I met her she was a child and I was a young woman . I wondered whether I would recognise her, and if we'd have enough to chat about...

I shouldn't have worried. I picked her out immediately among the fairly busy cafe and the years just melted away as we hugged each other. There was that immediate family bond, which amplified as we fell into an easy discussion and discovered so many common themes and experiences between our two families. 

She's a published poet and gave me a copy of her first book - I know many of you appreciate poetry and if you've not discovered Kaddy Benyon already, I suggest that you seek out her first collection 'Milk Fever'.  

All too soon she had to leave to pick up her children from school, and I felt strangely sad and lonely. I was brought up as an only child, and have lived most of my life with very little contact with my half-siblings and their families, but for a couple of hours I enjoyed the feeling of kinship. Thankfully we've agreed to meet up again next time I'm down in Cambridge. 

At half-past four it was time to meet up with Ben, who seemed reasonably positive about the exam. The titles and topics didn't really inspire him, but he feels he managed to do enough to pass. And he was mightily relieved that it was over! We negotiated the rush-hour traffic, and then it was time to cook a Beef Rendang, which was also enjoyed by Pete and Chris when they returned from Devon just after 11pm.