09:00 Lois and I drive over to
Kennington, a small suburb of Oxford, to have a cup of coffee and a piece of
cake with our friends Jen and Bill, on our way to the funeral of my Auntie
Bobbie who unfortunately died about 7 weeks ago at the age of 90 - it was the
end of an era: she was the last survivor of my mother's siblings and their
spouses.
But before moving on to the
funeral, due to take place at 1 p.m. in the City of Oxford Crematorium, Lois
and I spend an hour or so with Jen and Bill in Kennington. My main priority, as
always, is to avoid being left alone with Bill - sometimes Lois and Jen stand talking
about this and that in the kitchen,
while I have to sit in the living room with Bill.
Bill is a difficult person from
my standpoint - first because he suffers from mild dementia, and he tends to
fall asleep from time to time. But the worst thing is that he likes to talk to
me about religion, a topic I don't really care much about.
I always try to keep the
conversation as far away from religion as possible. Today, I start to talk
about the Chinese economy (as you do), and he suddenly asks me how Chinese
economic growth fits in with the Bible's prophecy about the end of the world. I
have no answer to that, so I simply say, "Sorry, can I use your bathroom?".
Good grief, what madness !!!
The fact is that the Hebrew
prophets knew nothing or almost nothing about China, and nothing at all about
Japan and America, or Britain. The countries and areas mentioned in their
prophecies are mostly near Israel, as one would expect.
Today's interpreters of Bible
prophecy have stretched the meaning of "Gog" and "Magog" to
make it refer to Russia; "Tarshish" has been identified, without much
evidence, to Gibraltar, and therefore to Britain and, by extension to the
British Empire and the United States. But they have not found a place name in
the Bible that they can apply to China yet, as far as I know.
So the jury is still out on that
one ha ha ha! And by the time I come out of the bathroom, Bill has forgotten
all about China and Bible prophecy, which is nice!
12:15 Lois and I say goodbye to
Jen and Bill, and drive on to the crematorium to meet with Auntie Bobbie's son
John and his wife Chris; and with Aunt Bobbie’s daughter Susan. Susan has
travelled from her home in Colorado USA to attend her mother's funeral.
We also meet up with some of my cousins:
Roger and his wife, Maria: Jeannette and her husband, Alan; Elizabeth and her
husband Roger; and Philip.
Susan's mid-Atlantic accent and
the minister’s Canadian accent give a bit of an internationalist flavour to the
ceremony, which is nice. At first, I thought the minister was a Scotsman, then an
Ulsterman, and finally, a Canadian: and he
tells us at the pub after the ceremony that he comes from one of Canada's
Midwestern provinces.
None of the guests knew why Aunt
Bobbie was called "Bobbie" when her real name was Violet. We find out
from the pastor's remarks that it was simply her father's pet name for her.
"Simples" !!! He always called her “Bobs”, it seems.
My Auntie Bobbie's funeral
Bobbie and my Uncle Bob in happier
times:
their wedding shortly after the end of
World War II
flashback to the 1960's:
my Auntie Bobbie, Uncle Bob, and their son John, and other relatives
14:00 After the ceremony most of
the guests drive to the nearby Six Bells pub for a lunch organized by John and
Susan. And it's a lot of fun to talk to my relatives, especially those I rarely
meet with. Everyone looks very much older, as expected - yikes! We’re all a
bunch of old crows now, and no mistake!!!!
(left to right) Chris, Elizabeth, Alan and John
Roger, Jeannette and Philip
Susan and Maria
Me and Roger
Roger (left) and me, side by side, in happier times: getting our M.A.'s in 1972
Lois with my M.A. cap and gown on (1972), plus borrowed glasses,
the saucy wench !!!!
Several cousins could not come
today: Michael, Ruth, Lyndon, Robert, Tim, Richard, John C., Peter, Hilary,
Kathleen, Peter, Jonathan, also my sister Gill. But 8 out of 20 is not bad
maybe, at our age. But perhaps it will be the last get-together of this kind,
now that the older generation has passed off the scene - who knows?
Lois and I decided this morning
at the last minute to stay overnight tonight in Oxford and return to Cheltenham
tomorrow. We check in at our favourite hotel, Hawkswell House, in the village
of Iffley, and spend the evening watching television. But we have to make an
early start tomorrow - our neighbours two doors away, Stephen and Francis, are
coming back from their 3-week vacation in Canada, and we have to take their
milk, eggs and mail into their house before they arrive, at 11 a.m. or so.
Busy busy busy.
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzz
!!!!
Danish translation
09:00 Lois og jeg kører over til Kennington, en lille forstad til
Oxford, for at drikke en kop kaffe og spise et stykke kage hos vores venner Jen
og Bill, på vej til begravelsen af min tante Bobbie, der desværre døde for 7
uger siden på 90 år – det var enden på en æra: hun var den sidste overlevende
af min mors søskende og deres ægtefæller.
Men før vi kører videre til begravelsen, som finder sted kl 13 i byen
Oxfords krematorium, tilbringer Lois og jeg en time eller deromkring hos Jen og
Bill i Kennington. Min vigtiste prioritet er, som altid, at undgå at blive
efterladt alene med Bill – nogle gange Lois og Jen snakker omd dette og hint i
køkkenet, mens jeg sidder i stuen med Bill.
Bill er en vanskelig person for mit vedkommende – først fordi han lider
af mild demens, og han har tendens til
at falde i søvn af og til. Men det værste er, at han kan godt lide at snakke
med mig om religion, et emne, jeg virkelig ikke interesserer mig for.
Jeg prøver altid at holde samtalen så langt væk fra religion, som
muligt. I dag begynder jeg at tale om den kinesiske økonomi (som man gør), og
han spørger mig pludselig om, hvordan den kinesiske økonomiske vækst passer ind
med bibelens profetier om enden på verden. Det har jeg ikke noget svar til, så
derfor siger jeg simpelthen, ”Undskyld, må jeg låne toilettet?”.
Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!
Faktum er, at de hebraiske profeter vidste ingenting eller næsten
ingenting om Kina, og overhovedet ingenting om Japan og Amerika, eller
Storbritannien. Landene og områderne nævnte i deres profetier er for det meste
i nærheden af Israel, som man ville forvente.
Nutidens fortolkere af bibelens profetier har strækket meningen af ”Gog”
og ”Magog” så de henviser til Rusland;
”Tarshish” er blevet idenficeret, uden mange beviser, med Gibraltar, og
derfor med Storbritannien og, ved udvidelse med det britiske imperium og USA.
Men de har ikke fundet noget stednavn i bibelen, som de kan anvende til Kina,
så vidt jeg ved.
Så det er juryen stadig ude om ha ha ha!
12:15 Lois og jeg kører videre til krematoriet og mødes med Tante
Bobbies søn John og hans kone Chris; og Tante Bobbies datter Susan. Susan har
rejst fra sit hjem i Colorado USA for at deltage i sin mors begravelse.
Vi mødes også nogle andre af min fætre og kusiner: Roger og hans kone, Maria: Jeannette og
hendes mand, Alan; Elizabeth og hendes mand Roger; og Philip.
Susans midtatlantiske accent og præstens kanadiske accent giver lidt af
en internationalistisk duft til ceremoniet, hvilket er rart. Først troede jeg
præsten var skotte, så nord-irer, og endelig kanader: han fortæller os på pubben efter ceremoniet, at
han kommer fra en af Canadas midtvestlige provinser.
Ingen af gæsterne vidste, hvorfor Tante Bobbie hed ”Bobbie”, mens hendes
ægte navn var Violet. Vi finder ud af, i løbet af præstens bemærkninger, at det
simpelthen var hendes fars øgenavn til hende. ”Simples”!!! Han kaldte hende
altid Bobs, lader det til.
Min tante
Bobbies begravelse
Bobbie og
min onkel Bob i lykkelige tider:
deres
bryllup kort efter enden på den 2. verdenskrig
min tante Bobbie, min onkel Bob, deres søn John, og andre slægtninge
14:00 De fleste gæster kører over til den nærliggende Six Bells pub for en frokost organiseret
af John og Susan. Og det er meget sjovt at snakke med mine slægtinge, i sær
dem, jeg meget sjældent mødes med. Alle ser meget meget ældre ud, som forventet
– yikes!
(venstre til højre) Chris, Elizabeth, Alan og John
Roger, Jeannette og Philip
Susan og Maria
Mig og Roger
da man uddelte os vores magart
Lois i mit akamediske antræk - sikke en fræk tøs ha ha!
Flere fætre og
kusiner kunne ikke kommer i dag: Michael, Ruth, Lyndon, Robert, Tim, Richard,
John C., Peter, Hilary, Kathleen, Peter, Jonathan, også min søster Gill. Men 8
ud af 20 er ikke dårligt måske i vores alder. Men måske vil det være den sidste
sammenkomst af denne art, nu hvor den ældre generation alle er afgået ved døden
– hvem ved?
Lois og jeg besluttede i morges på sidste øjeblik at overnatte i Oxford
og køre tilbage til Cheltenham i morgen. Vi tjekker ind hos vores
yndlingshotel, Hawkswell House, i landsbyen Iffley, og bruger aftenen på at se
lidt fjernsyn. Men vi skal få en tidlig start i morgen – vores naboer to døre
væk, Stephen og Francis, kommer tilbage fra deres 3-uger ferie i Canada, og vi
skal tage deres mælk, ægge og post ind i deres hus, før de ankommer kl 11 eller
deromkring.
Travlt travlt travlt.
22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzzz!!!!
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