Today was a day for catching up with old friends, they live at opposite ends of the village.
Terry is about 83 years old. He was a Royal Marine and fought in the Korean War, he survived 3 years as a prisoner of war, during which time he endured terrible conditions and punishments.
He is a true gentleman, he must have a core of steel though to have come through all that. He never talks about that time - well only occasionally - and only with my husband.
His retirement has been spent here. He is probably the best-loved character in the village, and this tiny place isn't short on characters!
The other lovely man is John, aged 94 or 96, according to who you talk to. He lost his wife last year and yet he is still managing to live an active life and look after Arnold, an ancient horse.
Arnold was Hazel's (John's late wife) and she used to teach all the local children to ride on him, many years ago. Goodness knows how old he is.
A few weeks ago I bumped into John, in the field across the road, he was busy taking photographs of the sunrise. One of his photographs was chosen as the 'photograph of the day' on the local weather programme, on BBC1.
These two wonderful old men still drive.
Luckily, they both drive very distinctive cars!
* * * * *
Jonny, Thank you for the phone call this afternoon, it was lovely to hear your voice and to know that you are well. Lucky you, another three or four weeks of holiday!
It is a shame that you missed speaking to your Pa, however, it was lovely that you got to speak to Davina.
Please keep checking into places on Facebook (when you get a chance) and then I can follow your progress.
Lots of love
Enjoy yourself
Mum
xxx
I love old people and old stories. How large is your village?
ReplyDeleteYes, definitely lucky they both drive distinctive cars! What a charming post. Makes me want to know more about them both.
ReplyDeleteJoanne, They both have a lot of stories to tell - I'll get around to those, I promise. Our village has between 60/70 houses. We don't have a shop, a Post Office, a church, a school (closed last year), but we do have a pub - The Railway Tavern, we also have a Village Hall.
ReplyDeleteMitch, Let's just say that when we spot them coming in our direction it is always safer to pull right over - not always easy on our tiny country roads! I am very fond of them both - I'll be sure to post more about them in the future.
What a wonderful posting this is. I enjoyed reading it. Have a nice weekend. Greetings, Heidi
ReplyDeleteYOUR OWN auntie glad twins!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI'm so embarrassed! I meant blog!
ReplyDeleteNow I'm doubly embarrassed! I deleted the comment where I said I loved your "glob" and reposted the above comment. I'll quit now while I'm ahead!
ReplyDeleteHeidi, How lovely to hear from you. I am so pleased you enjoyed the post, I find that the old folks in our village are often the most interesting - it is a bonus that these two chaps are lovely with it! Enjoy your weekend.
ReplyDeleteJohn, I hadn't thought of them in that way, but you could be right. I am very glad to have met them!
Ms Sparrow, Don't be embarrassed - glob is probably more appropriate for what I do.
ReplyDeleteI would love to be one of those methodical people who plan their posts carefully ... unfortunately, what you get is a great 'glob' of whatever is on my mind at the time, exactly as it comes tumbling out of my mind.
We live in a village called Aby, (rhymes with maybe) in Lincolnshire, which is on the east coast. We are just a few miles away from the coast - so we have the best of both worlds.
I want to live in Maybe!
ReplyDeleteDom, We would be very happy to squeeze you in somewhere - but then you would have to re-name your blog!!
ReplyDelete