Declining health and very old age leave you a passenger at Christmas. But I'm hugely grateful for younger, fitter and more congenial offspring who took the strain and left me time to think about the exact present for VR, my wife.
VR's early years during WW2 were fraught, living in Dover, on Britain's south-east coast, a mere 21 miles from Nazi-occupied France and shelled continuously. Much of her upbringing was governed by Gran - a protean figure in her life and who taught VR to read. Gran was poor, start-up books were non-available, and so Gran used what was to hand. And that was: Insect Ways on Summer Days. Not exactly a classic
VR idolised what Gran did for her and that book title has been regularly mentioned in our married life. Even so it took several days before the penny dropped. But what were the odds? Probably printed in the twenties (actually 1887), unlikely to have run to another edition.
But ABE Books UK has never let me down. They had it at less than four quid. I could have gone to four hundred
Well done.
ReplyDeleteI am the worst present buyer ever...
... except perhaps Father. His imagination didn't go beyond a cheque, but welcome, nonetheless..
A beautiful gift - she must have been touched - well done!
ReplyDeleteWhat a marvelous gift! Wishing you and family a Happy New Year !
ReplyDeleteSir Hugh/MikeM/Joared: Thanks for all your responses. You seem to have caught the special magic associated with this gift. It may well have thrilled me more than it did VR, though I can report she did appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteI hope you had a good Christmas and Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteI sometimes wish we were passengers at Christmas as we still end up entertaining and cooking for younger members of the family. I do wonder how old we have to be before we throw up our hands and say "enough"!
Jean: VR cooked on into her eighties until succumbing to a stroke. Traditionally on Christmas Eve we ate and stayed at the home of our younger daughter,Occasional Speeder, a 45-minute drive away; OS and elder daughter Professional Bleeder contributed to the Christmas Day meals at our home. I guess you've got some years to go before you retire to your armchairs. We had a house in Loire Atlantique for eight years but Christmas in France never really appealed.
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