Blog Archives - FordeFables

June 30th

30/6/2013

Thought for today:
"Old age should never be disguised or seen as a source of embarrassment or shame. It is not an illness, but a timeless ascent into the light of growing wisdom. Its shows the strength of the person and their skills for survival and reveals their grace in unfettered form. Above all, it reveals that there is no longer a need for the protective coats that mankind wears to shield their image. Old age denotes it to be a period of shedding shells; the shell of ambition, the shell of false modesty, the shell of material accumulations and possessions and the shell of ego. It represents perhaps the most single time in a person's life when one doesn't give a damn about impressing another and where the only type of communication to be used is to simply 'say it as it is!' So be careful the next time you converse with an older person and dare to ask them a highly personal question as you may not really be prepared to accept their truthful answer!" William Forde: June 30th, 2013.

June 29th, 2013.

29/6/2013

Thought for today:
"I often wonder how far society has really come in equalising the rights of women as much as those of men. There are still insufficient representation of women in our parliament, churches, businesses, state institutions etc. etc. No more is sexism so apparent than in any society or place where there is no employment to be had outside the home for either man or woman. Yet, even there, where work is required to maintain the running of the family home, it is largely carried out by the woman under man's watchful eye. Just as our women folk have been telling us for centuries, 'A woman's work is never done,' some might hold the view that a man's is rarely started." William Forde: June 29th, 2013.

June 28th, 2013.

28/6/2013

Thought for today:
"Think what you like, but when it comes to good-looking birds strutting their stuff, there is class and then again there is 'class.'

Some are meant to 'talk the talk' and then there are those who were created to 'walk the walk.'

With manes as beautiful and classy as these hair dos, there is no such thing as 'a bad hair day' for any of these females!" William Forde: June 28th, 2013.

June 27th, 2013.

27/6/2013

Thought for today:
"Today is the birthday of my youngest brother Michael (the one on the left of brothers Patrick, Peter and myself). While we were born at different times in my parent's marriage, Michael and I each share one important characteristic. We are both 'survivors.' While, during my life I have survived a number of health scares, my brother Michael managed to survive just as many crises', but under a handicap which I was never subjected to.

You see, his eldest brother had been born and crowned with the mantle of 'specialness,' as the first-born of seven children who'd been born to an Irish mother who was herself the first-born of seven. Michael, on the other hand was merely the run-of-mill 'ordinary' child and youngest son in a family of seven children.

My Irish mother was deeply entrenched in Irish folklore and having also been born the eldest child of seven children, she was steeped in the superstition of centuries. Such a position in an Irish family structure automatically denoted her as being 'special' and invested in her, the power of second sight. Therefore, being the oldest of her seven children, naturally led to my mother holding the firm belief that her first-born of seven children would also be a'special' child who would, after her death, inherit her powers of second sight.

I never once felt such 'specialness' to ever be in doubt throughout my entire childhood; first in my mother's eyes and later in mine. Why, even a peg-selling gypsy confirmed this 'specialness' of mine prior to my birth for the mere transaction of a silver three-penny-piece exchanging palms during my mother's fifth month of pregnancy when she lived in Portlaw, County Waterford.

Every day of my life, I grew up being reminded that I was 'special.' In time I came to instinctively believe the Irish gypsy's prophecy, acted upon it and lived my life accordingly. Whatever I survived in my future life, whatever the odds against me, the reason for my survival was clear; it was because I was 'special.'

It was only during the latter half of of my life that I realised that while I was indeed 'special', so was every other man, woman and child, whatever their pecking order in the family and role in the world happened to be.

I now know that in the 'survival stakes,' my younger brother Michael's skills far exceed mine, for he faced and survived all of his ordeals of life without the belief that he was 'special,' despite being more 'special' a person than I could ever be.

A 'special' Happy Birthday, Michael. I love you. Your big brother Billy." William Forde: June 27th, 2013.

June 26th, 2013.

26/6/2013

Thought for today:
"One little piggy went to market and another little piggy stayed at home; one little piggy had bread and butter and the other little piggy had none. This little piggy said w...wee w.. wee wee...... Mummy! Mummy, we've done it again. Buster's had a little accident across the back of my neck and all over your new sofa!" William Forde: June 26th, 2013.

June 25th, 2013.

25/6/2013

Thought for today:
"I was never blinded by the moonlight until that night when we first kissed and held hands by the foot of the mountains. I still vividly recall your touch, your smell, your 'little-girl' smile when you laughed and tossed back your hair in wanton abandonment of all prior relationships. Then, you had the strength of an ox and the courage of a lion as you spoke about all the things you planned to do with the remainder of your life and all the different places in the world thata you would visit before old age struck down your freedom of movement and impaired your ease of limbs. To now hear your shallow breath as I watch you sleep pains me deeply and wraps my heart in the barb wire of pending loss to come. To see you now, my dearest, as your feeble body sinks effortlessly into the sheets of the bed you have lived in for nigh on two years this September, no longer reflects the woman you were to me in robust health and unbridled passion; the woman of old who was so determined to live life to the full and to brook no nonsense in its making. No more does the mountain cast its image across the lake in true reflection of what once was. Soon, dearest, the moon will set forever behind the mountain and only darkness shall remain in the place you occupied in my life. Oh love of my life, why did you have to go and die before me? Could you not have lingered a while longer so that we may have journeyed together one last time to one last place?" William Forde: June 25th, 2013.

June 24th, 2013

24/6/2013

Thought for today:
"There there, Tiddles. Mummy understands. Did the naughty dog frighten you and ruin your little walk in the garden. Never mind, Tiddles, soon........soon your claws will grow long and sharp. No one will ever frighten you again after mummy has taught you how to scratch their eyes out and to draw first blood." William Forde: June 24th, 2013.

June 23rd,2013.

23/6/2013

Thought for today:
"The world is filled with all manner of types. There are some, who for whatever reason simply prefer to rub along on their own as they jump through life's hoops and leap through one's experiences. There are others who find the experiences of life more pleasurable and meaningful only with a family member, friend, lover, companion or soul mate by their side. Then there are those of the lazier and more idle variety who will get wherever they want to upon the backs of others. They have been born with this deep inner feeling of entitlement from cradle to grave which leads them to believe that there is no earthly reason for them ever to break sweat so long as others are prepared to carry them, bear their load and rescue them from their own self-made disasters." William Forde: June 23rd, 2013.

June 22nd, 2013

22/6/2013

Thought for today:
"Never was a child so loved, a babe so wanted by its mum and dad. Never since the Lord made the heavens and the earth and sent the world spinning in perpetual motion on an axis of love has the sight of one child's radiant smile failed to light up the universe and shine brighter than a galaxy of stars. For you, my son are everything to your mum and dad. We will always be there for you through thick and thin. We will love you unconditionally, even through right and wrong, though we may not always approve of what you do or condone the manner in which you do it. We cannot promise you the ideal education, employment, house or partner of your choice; merely trust that you will truly learn from your mistakes and life's experiences. What we can give you, son, is all that you will ever need to remain happy and purposeful in your existence. We can give you unconditional love, lifelong respect, eternal trust, a basic knowledge and belief in what is right and wrong and how to instinctively know the difference between the two, whatever the circumstances you face or the decisions you need to make. And though we would willingly die for you, if it ever proved necessary, we will never live for you. We love you too much ever to rob you of your independence or suffocate your individuality. Oh, and we leave you all of your six brothers and sisters who have been reared to share your values. Lash them to your side and make them your beacon of light and never stray too far from the things in life that either please or comfort them; for when the sea rages, it will be their shining love for you that will bring you safely back home to shore." William Forde: June 22nd, 2013

June 21st, 2013.

21/6/2013

Thought for today:
"Stop being so complicated, will you? You know whenever you come out with all those long and confusing words to describe those abstract thoughts of yours, that it only gets my knickers in a twist!

That's what I've always liked about you Bill since the first moment we met. I was never in any doubt what you wanted, how, when, where and why!

Now then husband, what's to be this time; my meat pie, soda bread, malt loaf or a bit of.........?" William Forde: June 21st, 2013.

June 20th, 2013

21/6/2013

Thought for today:
"Books are the quietest and most constant of my friends; the most accessible and wisest of counsellors and the most patient of teachers. In reading them we can lose, rediscover and find ourselves in both the real and the imaginary. We rely upon the philosophers, poets and playwrights to articulate what most of us can only feel in joy or sorrow. They explain the emotions that we can but feel, yet know not the origin of. They illuminate the thoughts for which we can but grope in the barrenness of our understanding. They give us the strength and balm we cannot always find in ourselves when the cruel experiences of life weaken and threaten without. Whenever I feel my quest for knowledge thirst, my courage for the present waver or my fears for the future despair, I rush to these scribes; for they provide me with the wisdom of greater understanding and improved learning. They instill in me the will and resilience to push on with life once more and to vigorously resist the urge to surrender to my darker forces.

Reading books have been known to make one wiser, more curious and even taller. They offer romance to the romantic, adventure to the adventurous and aspiration to the most aspiring among us. They offer knowledge to the ignorant, stimulation to the bored and sheer escapism to those who weary of their everyday life. Open one and your life will never be exactly the same again. William Forde: June 20th, 2013.

June 19th, 2013.

19/6/2013

Thought for today:
"Today is the birthday of my sister Eileen (The one on the front row LHS). Eileen is the second eldest sister in my family of seven siblings and the third in age ascendancy in the pecking order of privileges within the household and family in which we grew up. Even today, on the few occasions that we manage to get all seven of us together for a family photograph, all siblings naturally take up their pecking-order-place in line in order of age and good looks ascendancy, which coincidentally matches! As the three eldest grew up in a materially-poor, yet, emotionally-rich council-household during the immediate post-war years of the early 50's, rationing books were still in use. Some foods were hard to come across, like fresh eggs, unless a family produced their own in their garden or their unapproved chicken coop. I still recall that as the house breadwinner, my father was given the main body of a boiled egg to eat and as the two eldest children, me and my sister Mary took it in turn to have the top of his egg. Being the next one down the pecking order invariably left our sister Eileen out of this table treat, but me and my sister Mary always made sure that we described to her in copious detail, the delicious and delicate taste of a nice runny egg as it slid down the throat effortlessly to take up temporary residence in the tummy. Those were the days, when the rich went to bed on a full stomach and the poor retired on a wing and a prayer. These were the days when if one was one of seven children and there was only food enough on the table for five or six, you never slept in. These were the days when everyone in every household recognised the natural pecking order in the family hierarchy and each knew their place. Happy Birthday Eileen. Sorry you didn't taste a fresh egg until you were 14 years old. I love you. Your big brother Billy x " William Forde: June 19th, 2013.

June 18th, 2013.

18/6/2013

Thought for today:
"When days seem so long and heartaches weigh too heavily upon us, when nothing has gone right and all of the world seems to stand against us; when the soul streams with a bitterness that cannot be soothed and one's thoughts pound relentlessly until sheer madness is prevented by an uncontrollable outburst and emotional explosion of all our senses; when all seems lost and life no longer holds meaning for us, only then do we realise the presence and miraculous power of a friendly embrace that wraps us in a circle of unconditional love. I love my dog. She is always there for me whatever her day has brought." William Forde: June 18th, 2013.

June 17th, 2013

17/6/2013

Thought for today:
"Today is my sister Mary's birthday( Sat here on the LHS with my daughter Rebecca). The rest of the family call her 'Blessed Mary' because of her inherent goodness and refusal to park on a double yellow line or to tell an untruth. Telling the truth, may on the surface seem to be a wholesome and commendable exercise, but being prone to the same practice, I have found that it carries with it an inherent danger: that it may result in being believed and acted upon! For example, Mary, statistics show that if fifty people park randomly on a double yellow line anywhere in the country outside Leeds, Manchester or London, that on average only one person will be caught and booked. Also, according to the statistical laws of probability, you have infinitely less chance of being loved 'more' by any of your six siblings than I love you. Happy birthday. Your big brother Billy x" William Forde: June 17th, 2013.

June 16th, 2013.

17/6/2013

Thought for today:
"Oh wolf of Haworth Heath, keep safe the moorland from the jackals and trespassers of nearby haunts who hunt our fields on moonlit nights in search of easy prey. Send forth thy wrath and warning when the moon shines at its fullest that only the owners of these grasslands and the good citizens of Haworth are free in their roaming. And who are these good citizens, I hear you ask? If your spit or emptied piss pot from thy top window sill splash upon the cobbles of Main Street and West Lane, thou be a good citizen, but if not, beware of the Haworth Heath wolf, for he be no friend to thee on moonlit nights!" William Forde: 16th June,2013

June 15th, 2013.

15/6/2013

Thought for today:
"How truly awesome is the wonder of the universe when infinite time and space is viewed by the discerning moment in the blink of an eye. To capture in one single glance, a picture embracing millions of light years that witnessed the Ice, Stone and Bronze Age cover the earth is no less of a marvel than to plant an orange tree upon Mars itself and watch it thrive and grow to full fruition. Mankind is but one small speck of insignificance within the big picture of galactic creation and if ever we be in danger of forgetting that fact, we need only to look to the nightly sky to confirm it or to witness the wonder of Nature and all of its creatures on the ground below." William Forde : June 15th, 2013

June 14th, 2013

14/6/2013

Thought for today:
"My earth is my heaven and my heaven my earth, and my existence merely a rehearsal waiting in the wings. Take me along the sunshine road where my dreams await me in the unfolding of their delight. Show me the path to that place where my body sometimes fears to travel and which my feelings long ago abandoned me for. Reunite my thoughts, words and deeds and make me oh so wholesome in your image once more. For too long I have resisted the passage of my fears and have allowed them to freeze my every earthly movement in frightful expectation of doom to come, when there is nothing to be fearful of except God's grace and His sunshine beaming you to His bosom for the rest of eternity. All my life is yours oh Lord and death be nothing, but an irritation; a sting that your balm will soothe." William Forde: June 14th, 2013.

June 13th, 2013.

13/6/2013

Thought for today:
"Oh Haworth Heath, oh haven of perfect peace; a place to where I go when the pressures of everyday life weigh heavily upon my shoulders and my burden becomes too great to bear. It a place of scented flowers hidden among the hay and sweet smelling grasses that tickles the unsuspecting ear in the spot where I place my head. To rest upon the still ground on the edge of Bronte Moor and to listen to the life beneath its sod is to listen to a world of quieter movement. If I stay perfectly still and remain noiseless to all life around, Nature amply rewards me with the sun's rays upon my face and the sweet song of the lark; willing me to smile ever so smugly as the world continues to grind relentlessly at its machines and toil endlessly in the mills and factories of Keighley town beyond. Thank God for allowing me to find Haworth Heath; this wondrous secret spot of heaven in the heart of the industrial north, known only to those precious few who will never divulge its location and who have sworn a sacred oath to take its secret to the next life with them." William Forde: 13th June, 2013.

June 12th, 2013.

12/6/2013

Thought for today:
"George Orwell once told you English folk that 'Big brother was watching you.' My mum and dad could only have one child and that was me. If only I had been blessed to have a big brother watch over me, he could watch me forever. I would hug him so tight and never let him go. I'd love him even more than my favourite chocolate bar." William Forde: June 12th, 2013.

June 11th, 2013

12/6/2013

Thought for today:
"There is a high price to pay for all you young women who like to step out in stiletto heels. While they may make you feel good and look heavenly at the time of wearing, there will be hell to pay before you reach the age of forty." William Forde: June 11th, 2013

June 10th, 2013

11/6/2013

June 10th, 2013.

10/6/2013

Thought for today (In memory of Bessie Bates whose anniversary occurs around this time.):

"Oh flowers of spring, grace the leisure hours of sisters and foretell the future of loves to come. How innocent the times we shared in blissful amusement; blowing stems of dandelion to discover whether he loved me or loved me not and making daisy chains to give to a mother so sweet on our return.

Our Liberal Prime Minister, David Lloyd George is fed up of coalition government with the Conservatives and soon their political arrangement will end. Liberals and Conservatives were never meant to piss in the same pot. Lloyd George never did know my father, but my father knew Lloyd George.

The year of my birth (1922) saw the death of Sir Ernest Shackleton, the antarctic explorer. He never reached his 48th year of life, but a peg-selling gypsy told me that I would live into my 90's. How good a thought it is to know that one's life will span two centuries and see two monarchs enthroned.

I wonder if the remaining family will forget us when we're gone Marian and when we are no longer able to pick flowers for ourselves? Let's blow upon this dandelion and the answer we shall find: They will- they won't- they will- they won't-they will- they won't! See, Marian, I told you that they won't forget us!" William Forde : June 10th, 2013.

June 9th, 2013.

9/6/2013

Thought for today:
"There is a place to which I go when days seem too superficial and my lungs start to long for that fresh air that is found most sweetly in the secret vale of Haworth Heath. To see the red poppies glow in fields of blood at evening hour and to hear no sound except that of pheasants walking in the long grass and the tiny running feet of the field mouse is music to my ears and comfort to my soul. If only........if only I could build my cottage there and become part of the natural surround then all my earthly dreams would have been answered; for in this sacred place Sheila and I would lie in love and peaceful passion for all time." William Forde: June 9th, 2013.

June 8th, 2013.

8/6/2013

Thought for today:
" It has always been easy to 'spot the difference' between a man and a woman. I ask you, 'What self-respecting woman would ever buy undergarments from the 'Pound Shop' and be completely happy about their purchase? A dodgy one, I'd warrant!' " William Forde: June 8th, 2013.

June 7th, 2013.

8/6/2013

Thought for today:
"Now, listen carefully children. Listen with mother. If you are sitting comfortably, then we'll begin!

'Listen with Mother' was the very first radio broadcast that I can remember. It was a school broadcast which we would listen to as infants before coming home for the day.

The school service radio was a morning educational treat and used to be switched on to teach us songs that reminded us that we were British and proud of it; songs like 'Heart of Oak are our ships' and 'Scarborough Fair' and 'Green Sleeves', etc. etc.

Then, when we arrived home for the day and tea time approached, we would always have 'Mrs Dale's Diary' playing in the background. If it was too wet to play out after tea, we would listen to 'The Archers' before getting ready for bed. We had no homework during those days as the teachers were obviously good enough at their jobs to teach the children all that had to be learnt during an average six-hour day.We knew that we were growing up if our parents allowed us to listen to 'Dick Barton, Special Agent' before going to bed.

But the programme that told me I was really growing up in my parent's eyes was when I was allowed to listen to the scary tales of 'The Black Museum.' These were stories told by Orson Welles and although many people think that they were a product of the BBC, they were actually produced and syndicated commercially by Towers throughout the English speaking world.They always started in the same way:
'This is Orson Welles speaking from London.'
(Sound of Big Ben chimes)
'The Black Museum is a repository of death. Here in the grim structure on the Thames which houses Scotland Yard is a warehouse of homicide where everyday objects such as a woman's shoe, a tiny white box, a quilted robe, .....are all touched by murder.'

The year was 1951 and although only 9 years old, being the eldest of seven children my mother allowed me to listen after the others had gone to bed. At the end of the transmission, I would then run up stairs, jump into bed and try not to dream about the scary story I'd just listened to. I invariably failed and would get stabbed or meet another type of grizzly end in my sleep. Those were the days!" William Forde: June 7th, 2013.