I am so lucky to know the family I do in England. My Dad has tons of cousins there and I have met only a few of them. This trip was so lovely and I got to meet my cousin Pamela’s daughter and Grandkids and also to see Pam’s brother Peter who I last saw when he was 10. Pam lives in Southampton and so does Peter. My other cousins in the south live north of Southampton – DUH, yes I know otherwise they would be in the ocean…
Gillian and Linda and families live near Winchester England. It is a lovely area. Having first met them when I was 23 it is always fun to get together again. Gillian and I went to visit her Mum in the nursing home and I am just pleased that I could see her once more. She was a lively woman and as a young woman I was so impressed with her and I hoped I could have some of that personality when I got older.. My mother was such a quiet little thing and I was so different from her and Pat seemed more like me. I had a wonderful time when I first met them and all the other times in my life.
Then going to Wallasey to see the more distant cousins was fun as well. Barbara and I love genealogy and we know not many of the others do so when we get a chance to get together we have great fun talking the old ancestor stuff. Always learn something new when I am with Barbara. Also enjoyed seeing Ann and Ian and their daughter who had hosted us in Scotland the year of the family reunion in Kilmarnock. And meeting Barbara Costelloes daughter was a delight. I wish we could have had more time to chat. Niall was great seeing again although I wish I could have actually had a longer conversation with him and his husband. Ian and Tessa were great and Ian toured us about and took Denis running which was a treat for him. They had lots to talk about.
Politics did enter the conversation in England the same as it did everywhere else. Only two Trump supporters were to be found and the rest were just wondering if we had gone completely daft or what? We had no answers for them other than our sadness for those who are going to be harmed by this presidents policies. Trump supporters just do not see it so assume they support what he wants to do. I have started wishing for some harm to be done to them so maybe they will wake up. Not kind I know but how do you get people to see the storm that is about to hit when they think sunshine will just stay the way it is. I am sure some think doing away with the government as it exists will be good and doing away with all government programs will help them but I think they will be surprised. Anyone ever pay that huge toll to drive around Toronto on the privately owned highway north of the city. Other places have them too and they ain’t cheap.
Anyway, England was delightful and we so enjoyed ourselves. Next time I want to go into London for several days to see the museums and historic places that I have not seen. Oh and my favorite thing was seeing my second cousins twice removed. The little kids. they are such lovely open and friendly little folks. I wish our girls could meet them all sometime.
And by the way today was so busy and I had a great time. Started out picking up my 90 year old friend Josephine and took her to the Senior Center for lunch so I could talk to my friend Rosemarie about her upcoming trip to Greece. Then Jo and I went to Chair Moves exercise class by MVP free to seniors. From there I took Jo home but had to stop on the way to get her some milk. After getting her into her house I took off for Albany to meet my friend Judi for a late lunch at Peaches Cafe. Great meal. Judi and I are birthday twins. We were born in different years but on the same day. We have not seen each other in ages so it was a real treat. Then I drove her to the train back home to Long Beach and then I headed for Tai Chi class. Was so happy to be there again and upset that I could never have done the moves on my own. Totally forgot everything. From there I went to the High School to a presentation on mental health and teens because my old friend Donna was doing the presentation. Ended up being interviewed for the newspaper so will have to watch for that. Also got to see many of my local friends I have not see in several months so all in all it was a banner day.
Advertisements
Share this:
