Lockdown Begins
- Details
- Written November 2020
There has been special sadness with the passing of Jean Gauntlett, a friend and colleague since the 50s, and the day after that, Wendy's 94-year-old brother in law. We'd been visiting both in Bournemouth in recent years.
There have been family concerns - a health-worker daughter and her family in a house undergoing major extensions still far from complete; a Geneva-based son who is executive director of an international organisation heavily dependent on government and charitable funding. He’s with a partner in the US. He got there despite the ban on travel from mainland Europe. A marriage certificate helped!
But for me, like many of you said to be especially liable to infection, I have felt well supported by family and friends as we have started self-imposed isolation. But we’ve still managed to get out for a round of golf and a walk along the Medway after visiting the grounds of the Aylesford Friary, a picnic lunch taken on the bench there. There are a few photos to prove it: The Medway at Aylesford.
One of the highlights of the week for me has been responding to a question from a cousin as to how our family got connected to The Salvation Army. One day I could tell you the full story of a mother with a family of four who found herself destitute following a major head injury to our grandfather, and the local SA officer befriended and helped with her sleeves rolled up! Adversity can become the beginning of significant history. I have so much to be grateful for. At it reminds me that the difficulties of these days could be the beginning of something better for all.
Not least is that I have plenty of cereals in the cupboard. Thanks, guys. But I'm afraid they'll be gone by the time we next meet up.
March 2020