Thought for today:
"This afternoon we will be picking up an Italian visitor from Rome called Josie who will be our guest for the next week or two. We met Josie for the very first time during our European holiday this summer. Josie was one of the landladies who rented us part of her house for three days. To save us the hassle of trying to drive into and around a busy Rome City, as well as find a parking place, Josie's husband drove us there and collected us at the end of our day at the Vatican. Each of our evenings, we were invited to join the couple for an evening meal and a bottle of wine.
It was not only a meeting of minds between ourselves and Josie and husband but within such a short time, our relationship bond became as cemented as many long-term relationships. Upon leaving, Josie invited us back, the next time as her guests and not as paying tourist and we reciprocated the offer should ever Josie find herself in England.
Two months after returning from our European holiday, Josie phoned us out of the blue and said, 'I'm coming to stay with you in Haworth in September if you will have me?' Today, Josie arrives to taste the pleasures of Haworth and its rugged moorlands, and we are looking forward to reviving and extending our friendship. 'We look forward to seeing you both in September' Sheila' replied, to which Josie responded in her broken English that she wasn't bringing her husband with her as she wanted a holiday and would, therefore, be arriving alone!
Two things I draw from this experience. First, it ceases to surprise me how many married women go off on holiday these days without the accompaniment of their husband. My own sisters Mary and Eileen frequently engage in this behaviour, although I have to add that latterly, my sister Eileen and her husband have been going off together two or three times annually. However, Eileen still remains partly tied to her old behaviour pattern and opts to leave John at home while she dances off to Jersey two or three times a year.
Without going into numerous accounts of different women I have known to discover the advantages of abandoning their husbands for a holiday without them in the summer months, I will mention but one other; my late mother. So many times in my youth, when mum had three children instead of the brood of seven she was to give birth to, mum would frequently give myself, and sisters Mary and Eileen a weekend surprise. Mum always keep us on her toes with her spirit of spontaneity. I still recall one Friday afternoon in 1951 when I was aged 9 years and sisters Mary and Eileen were 8 and 7-years-old respectively. One minute mum was about to serve us Friday tea before she started to cook dad's tea for when he returned from his shift down the pit. The next minute, mum, abandoned our teas, asked us to put on our coats and after hurriedly packing a case set off on holiday. 'Come on, and hurry up you three' she told us, adding 'if you get a move on, we'll get the train and land in Holyhead to catch the midnight cattle boat. (Our transport across the Irish Sea was colloquially known as 'The Cattle Boat' because it was the cheapest way of steerage if they housed human passengers on the top deck and cattle below deck). We will be in Dublin by tomorrow morning and at your grandparent's house in Portlaw by teatime!'
Before mum left the house she would leave my dad a note telling him she had gone to Ireland for three weeks and asking him to avoid the rent man and the tallyman when they called for their weekly monies as she had borrowed the rent, plus the tally man's money, and had also raided the shillings from the gas meter by breaking into the box. Seemingly, when the gas man came to empty the meter of their shillings, householders could look forward to a cash rebate. If the shillings in the meter were short (reflecting a break-in by the householder), the gas man would simply reduce the shortage from the householder's rebate due. There was no such thought of reporting the householder for theft, as to prosecute one person on the council estate would mean prosecuting every other householder who had also 'borrowed' a shilling or two mid readings. As soon as we arrived at my grandparents in Ireland without warning, they would put us up and feed us for the following three weeks. Before mum took her coat off at my grandparent's house she would write and post a letter to my dad. The letter would be brief and absent of all endearments and simply read: "Have arrived at my parents, Paddy. Please send some money when you can. Will be back next month. Maureen' For the next month, dad would then work over if possible at the pit and even go into work on Saturday morning to clean the machinery, 'just to pay for mum's spontaneity'.
Secondly, how often do we meet people on holiday who we say upon parting, 'Please visit whenever you are over our way. We'd love to see you', without ever expecting them to take up the invitation.
We are so pleased that Josie took us at our word which was genuinely meant, instead of simply accepting it as tourist courtesy to which nothing more than lip service is ever paid. It is nice to make another genuine friend, but I just wish she had brought her lovely husband with her also!"
Love and peace Bill xxx
"This afternoon we will be picking up an Italian visitor from Rome called Josie who will be our guest for the next week or two. We met Josie for the very first time during our European holiday this summer. Josie was one of the landladies who rented us part of her house for three days. To save us the hassle of trying to drive into and around a busy Rome City, as well as find a parking place, Josie's husband drove us there and collected us at the end of our day at the Vatican. Each of our evenings, we were invited to join the couple for an evening meal and a bottle of wine.
It was not only a meeting of minds between ourselves and Josie and husband but within such a short time, our relationship bond became as cemented as many long-term relationships. Upon leaving, Josie invited us back, the next time as her guests and not as paying tourist and we reciprocated the offer should ever Josie find herself in England.
Two months after returning from our European holiday, Josie phoned us out of the blue and said, 'I'm coming to stay with you in Haworth in September if you will have me?' Today, Josie arrives to taste the pleasures of Haworth and its rugged moorlands, and we are looking forward to reviving and extending our friendship. 'We look forward to seeing you both in September' Sheila' replied, to which Josie responded in her broken English that she wasn't bringing her husband with her as she wanted a holiday and would, therefore, be arriving alone!
Two things I draw from this experience. First, it ceases to surprise me how many married women go off on holiday these days without the accompaniment of their husband. My own sisters Mary and Eileen frequently engage in this behaviour, although I have to add that latterly, my sister Eileen and her husband have been going off together two or three times annually. However, Eileen still remains partly tied to her old behaviour pattern and opts to leave John at home while she dances off to Jersey two or three times a year.
Without going into numerous accounts of different women I have known to discover the advantages of abandoning their husbands for a holiday without them in the summer months, I will mention but one other; my late mother. So many times in my youth, when mum had three children instead of the brood of seven she was to give birth to, mum would frequently give myself, and sisters Mary and Eileen a weekend surprise. Mum always keep us on her toes with her spirit of spontaneity. I still recall one Friday afternoon in 1951 when I was aged 9 years and sisters Mary and Eileen were 8 and 7-years-old respectively. One minute mum was about to serve us Friday tea before she started to cook dad's tea for when he returned from his shift down the pit. The next minute, mum, abandoned our teas, asked us to put on our coats and after hurriedly packing a case set off on holiday. 'Come on, and hurry up you three' she told us, adding 'if you get a move on, we'll get the train and land in Holyhead to catch the midnight cattle boat. (Our transport across the Irish Sea was colloquially known as 'The Cattle Boat' because it was the cheapest way of steerage if they housed human passengers on the top deck and cattle below deck). We will be in Dublin by tomorrow morning and at your grandparent's house in Portlaw by teatime!'
Before mum left the house she would leave my dad a note telling him she had gone to Ireland for three weeks and asking him to avoid the rent man and the tallyman when they called for their weekly monies as she had borrowed the rent, plus the tally man's money, and had also raided the shillings from the gas meter by breaking into the box. Seemingly, when the gas man came to empty the meter of their shillings, householders could look forward to a cash rebate. If the shillings in the meter were short (reflecting a break-in by the householder), the gas man would simply reduce the shortage from the householder's rebate due. There was no such thought of reporting the householder for theft, as to prosecute one person on the council estate would mean prosecuting every other householder who had also 'borrowed' a shilling or two mid readings. As soon as we arrived at my grandparents in Ireland without warning, they would put us up and feed us for the following three weeks. Before mum took her coat off at my grandparent's house she would write and post a letter to my dad. The letter would be brief and absent of all endearments and simply read: "Have arrived at my parents, Paddy. Please send some money when you can. Will be back next month. Maureen' For the next month, dad would then work over if possible at the pit and even go into work on Saturday morning to clean the machinery, 'just to pay for mum's spontaneity'.
Secondly, how often do we meet people on holiday who we say upon parting, 'Please visit whenever you are over our way. We'd love to see you', without ever expecting them to take up the invitation.
We are so pleased that Josie took us at our word which was genuinely meant, instead of simply accepting it as tourist courtesy to which nothing more than lip service is ever paid. It is nice to make another genuine friend, but I just wish she had brought her lovely husband with her also!"
Love and peace Bill xxx
