The Century's Old

Today is another one of those days that jogs a lot of memories. There is nothing remarkable about the date really just another day, mid-February snow on the ground and bitterly cold, although I did see the first lambs of spring yesterday afternoon although it is not nearly spring and seems very early for lambs. I thought of them last night as the snow tried to take hold and the temperature plummeted again.

Today’s shot will be considered by many Blipper’s as a cheat, a shot of an old photograph which I guess is strictly not meant to be published and I fervently hope that the administrators allow it to remain. It is a photograph of photograph of my maternal grandparents on their wedding day. For those of you who have joined me on this journey you will know that the two people in this shot had the most profound influence on my life, I adored them and indeed my grandfather was “my hero”, the man I always wanted to be when I grew up. He was a tall, upright, quiet, gentle man and a gentleman. My grandmother by contrast was small, rosy cheeked and happy; she was always busy cooking or baking but always a kind word whenever needed, she always seemed to have the right words when things weren’t right.

The reason for today’s entry is simple; today would have been my little gran’s 100th Birthday and although I think of her fondly and very often I felt I would like to mark it in my journal so that when I reflect on my journey there was a little reminder of what today was.

I have often thought about the history she lived through, both World Wars, The Panama Canal opening, topically the first Winter Olympics, Winnie the Pooh stories first published, who could imagine a world without Winnie the Pooh but my gran would have been 12 before it was published!!! So many things too many to list but I wonder what she made of the world that changed so quickly. I remember walking with her my small hand in hers, her hands soft and small but to the child I remember they were the strongest hands in the world. We walked and talked and to me she was the wisest person in the world telling me about our village and about nature and many many other things. I remember baking with her although I suspect I made more mess than actually baked properly. I remember the smells of her kitchen and can close my eyes and still see it in my mind’s eye, a magical place to a small child.

Like most of the women of her generation she was a strong character but a gentle woman. I think it was summed up best by a single line, a line I would love to claim as my own but sadly not. When she passed away, there was great discussion in the family about who should take the funeral service, the parish minister was someone who never met her in the four years he had been in post despite her having been very active in church life. My gran’s lifelong neighbours and friends had three sons, one of whom went on to be a catholic priest; would he be allowed to take the service with her not being catholic? Would he be willing to take the service? Michael had known her all his life and said he was privileged to have been asked, it felt somehow fitting that a friend would help her on the last step of her journey and Michael spoke with true feeling about his memories and those few anecdotes that were shared that day. He summed it up with that line… a mother and grant mother, a neighbour and friend, a little lady who did good by stealth. And so it was, she was always quietly helping those around her a remarkable little lady, my gran… Happy Birthday x