Thursday, 5 June 2014

The family jungle telegraph gone berserk



We got back from the shopping. We’d done it in the morning & stopped at the village pub for lunch of tuna mayo jacket potatoes. We were just settling to a cup of tea at home before an afternoon lie down when the phone rang. Cousin Trudy.

Aunt Flo had got her local paper & seen details of the Ann’s funeral. Trudy thought I’d like to know. She’s looking forward to seeing us there.

The idea of a lie down dissolved as the full impact of Ann's death hit home. Somehow it seemed more of a reality now.

3pm the phone goes. Cousin Michael. Just thought I’d like to know the details of Ann’s funeral. He’d just seen it in the local paper. He’s looking forward to seeing us there.

By 5pm we decided to have a go a game of backgammon before we had dinner. We’d just started when the phone rang. Cousin Pat. She just thought we’d like to know details of the funeral. Her brother, Michael, had rung to tell her. She’s hoping to get there but, unfortunately, she’s gone down with an infection. She certainly sounded rough. With the chemo she’s having, she doesn’t feel can risk her health. However, she does seem to be improving so she may just get there.

After dinner, I rang Derek, Ann’s husband, to let him know we knew & to check how he is doing. He seemed better than he did on Sunday. Being able to get on with arrangements, I think, has distracted him a bit. Still we will see him at the funeral, though I will probably ring again on Friday as it would have been Ann’s birthday & their wedding anniversary. I suspect it will be a traumatic day for him.

Now I must turn my attention to finding some accommodation in Stoke for the night before. The funeral is early at 10.30am which doesn’t give us much time to get there from here on the day. So here’s looking.

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