My my, doesn’t time fly? I was in the local supermarket the other day when I spotted a friend and wandered over for a quick chat. After small talk and how are yous etc I realised we had first met some 38 years ago. During that time Clever Clogs has happily settled down with two children and a devoted spouse and life appears quite rosy. It is a heart warming story to hear that life has turned out rather well for old friends especially when so many of us still do not know and may never know exactly what it is we want. The same evening the Carer popped in to see me and we quickly realised that in a little over two days it would be two years since Elsie had passed away. This was yet more evidence of time flying by and naturally we had to arrange an anniversary event and at short notice.
Fortunately the weather over the weekend was glorious and Bean Counter, Roger Moor and the Traveller were all pressed ganged into action. Lawns were mowed, gardens tidied up, barbecues cleaned and a spread prepared and laid out all in record time and within minutes of our first guests arriving. Nearly all of the usual suspects were there and only those with outstanding commitments could not attend but as it happened over 30 people including 8 or more toddlers filled the grounds of Château Ghastanbury. It was almost like a vigil with Sophia Loren lighting a candle and the Carer offering to lead collective prayers. Several glasses to the missing Elsie were offered and drunk in the spirit of one toasting absent friends. As one group departed another one arrived and as Ogri and Boadicea left the Animal and his family landed. As the Carer and her family departed Rikers mum and her husband turned up.
Naturally it would be no show without Punch and so Little Miss Sunshine flounced in sporting a new pair of glasses. I do not think any of us have ever seen her in a pair of glasses before and it was not long before we (Rikers dad, the Animal, Roger Moor and me) decided she looked like a secretary. Of course this was meant as a compliment and I am sure it was taken as one as we are all still alive and unscathed! Someone else I had not spoken to at any length for a number of years arrived with her beau, Casey and the Godfather. Casey and I met in the summer of 86 via mutual friends although in recent years we have not seen much of each other. The pair of them have attempted to settle in Italy and Spain since then but have arrived back in the UK. It was great to get an alternative view of leaving these shores and how it is not always as rosy as the guide books would have us believe. After what seemed like only a few minutes but was a few hours they left promising to keep in touch more often.
The evening ended in the small hours with LMS being the last to leave and only after a disastrous attempt to make baked potatoes in the embers of the fire. They were wrapped in tin foil and thrown onto the glowing coals. After some time I stabbed them with a poking stick to see if they had been cooked and as the poking stick would not pass through the parcels I concluded that they were not done. Sometime later and after becoming fed up of waiting I took the parcels out and looked at solid charcoal lumps. It was no wonder the poking stick would not pass through them. With some butter to soften them up and some salt to take away the horrible taste me BC, LMS and her beau set about devouring what was left inside the rock solid husks. With a lot of help from very good friends the whole event had been a complete success and in spite of the occasion it was a very happy affair. I had to conclude that time may pass, the years might fly by but… memories still live on.