I dedicate my song today to a mother and daughter who are part of the Forde family. We wish a happy birthday to Linda Forde and Sam Swales who share the same birthday. Linda is married to my brother Peter, a retired Educational Psychologist. Sam is Peter and Linda’s daughter, and she is also my favourite niece, which is hopefully a detail that I trust she will never reveal to all my other nieces in the Forde family.
Sam has had a very emotional sixteen months. In late 2019, she and her partner (and Sam’s two children) went to live in Scotland to start a new life. They were so happy and had lots of plans to look forward to. Then, in early 2020, Sam’s partner (who was not yet fifty years old), died with Covid-19. Wanting to be closer to her family support structure again, Sam and the children have recently moved back down to Dewsbury in West Yorkshire to be near to mum and dad and the rest of the Forde clan. Let us hope that 2021 proves to be a happier year for Linda, Sam, and their families. Love Billy and Sheila xx
My song today is ‘All I Ask of You’. This song is from the 1986 English musical ‘The Phantom of the Opera'. It was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, and Richard Stilgoe, and was produced by Lloyd Webber. The song was released as a single in September 1986, by Sarah Brightman and Cliff Richard. The song achieved commercial success in several territories, including in Ireland and South Africa, where it topped the charts, and the United Kingdom, where it peaked at Number 3. The song has been covered by numerous artists such as The Shadows: Elaine Page: Jackie Evancho: Susan Boyle: Donny Osmond: Josh Groban: Barbara Streisand: Kelly Clarkson etc.
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The title of this song reminds me of several men and women who I worked with as a Probation Officer between 1970-95 in West Yorkshire, plus a few I have known since; all of whom craved a person with whom to share their life. One of the most heartfelt pleas I have heard from such people was, “All I want is that I have someone to love, and who will love me in return.”
I still remember one woman in her early forties once tell me, “All I ask, Mr. Forde, is that they are loving, loyal, faithful, truthful, sincere, generous, humorous, dependable, someone who doesn’t flare off the handle at nothing, a family person……oh, and a dog lover!” The woman was university educated, well-groomed, and attractive for her age. She had been an only child and her parents were no longer on the scene. Her mother had left her father when the daughter was in her teens and had gone to live in South Africa, and her father had died in his early sixties. The woman concluded by saying, “I do not really think I am asking for much; just a good man with those qualities I mentioned will do”.
I was separated from my wife at the time, and I was going through a divorce which I did not want. I did not want to tell the woman that I considered her long shopping list of qualities she wanted to be somewhat unrealistic, especially if she expected all of those qualities to be found in one man. I instantly got a mental image of her ideal man, and I recall telling her that if she was lucky enough to find such a man on the planet, despite being wholly heterosexual, I’d marry him myself if she didn’t want him!
Love and peace
Bill xxx
Sam has had a very emotional sixteen months. In late 2019, she and her partner (and Sam’s two children) went to live in Scotland to start a new life. They were so happy and had lots of plans to look forward to. Then, in early 2020, Sam’s partner (who was not yet fifty years old), died with Covid-19. Wanting to be closer to her family support structure again, Sam and the children have recently moved back down to Dewsbury in West Yorkshire to be near to mum and dad and the rest of the Forde clan. Let us hope that 2021 proves to be a happier year for Linda, Sam, and their families. Love Billy and Sheila xx
My song today is ‘All I Ask of You’. This song is from the 1986 English musical ‘The Phantom of the Opera'. It was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, and Richard Stilgoe, and was produced by Lloyd Webber. The song was released as a single in September 1986, by Sarah Brightman and Cliff Richard. The song achieved commercial success in several territories, including in Ireland and South Africa, where it topped the charts, and the United Kingdom, where it peaked at Number 3. The song has been covered by numerous artists such as The Shadows: Elaine Page: Jackie Evancho: Susan Boyle: Donny Osmond: Josh Groban: Barbara Streisand: Kelly Clarkson etc.
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The title of this song reminds me of several men and women who I worked with as a Probation Officer between 1970-95 in West Yorkshire, plus a few I have known since; all of whom craved a person with whom to share their life. One of the most heartfelt pleas I have heard from such people was, “All I want is that I have someone to love, and who will love me in return.”
I still remember one woman in her early forties once tell me, “All I ask, Mr. Forde, is that they are loving, loyal, faithful, truthful, sincere, generous, humorous, dependable, someone who doesn’t flare off the handle at nothing, a family person……oh, and a dog lover!” The woman was university educated, well-groomed, and attractive for her age. She had been an only child and her parents were no longer on the scene. Her mother had left her father when the daughter was in her teens and had gone to live in South Africa, and her father had died in his early sixties. The woman concluded by saying, “I do not really think I am asking for much; just a good man with those qualities I mentioned will do”.
I was separated from my wife at the time, and I was going through a divorce which I did not want. I did not want to tell the woman that I considered her long shopping list of qualities she wanted to be somewhat unrealistic, especially if she expected all of those qualities to be found in one man. I instantly got a mental image of her ideal man, and I recall telling her that if she was lucky enough to find such a man on the planet, despite being wholly heterosexual, I’d marry him myself if she didn’t want him!
Love and peace
Bill xxx
