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the moment i finished my 'A' levels, i left home...not in an unhappy way, rather in an 'i'm off to see the world!' way...i didn't realise how much i was leaving behind. And i think i always thought i'd get to go home again
i didn't feel homesick until I realised i couldn't easily return...my family are either in Heaven or scattered around the world; no one lives in Northumberland any more.
Everything changes of course. A century ago, my family were the entire population of a village & no one is left to remember them now; why that bridge has that name, who planted those trees, who built that house...its all forgotton. Sometimes i think i'm the only one left who remembers anything about our family. Certainly i seem to be the only one who cares.
My grandfather washed elephants in a Northumbrian stream, my grandmother danced the tango all night long and breastfed other women's babies, my aunt rose spoke to spirits until one of them told her not to, one uncle was a defrocked priest, another faked his own death so he could marry again, my great grand-mother raised 9 children by teaching piano, my grandfather spoke Arabic fluently & led expeditions into the desert (one of the first to explore tutankamen's tomb...we had handfuls of tiny green scarabs to play with)I had an aunt called Fairy because she was so tiny...i have a photograph of her in a purple velvet dress, an adult the same height as the pit ponies another uncle bred....I should keep all these family stories, in case, just in case I ever have great grandchildren who care.
i didn't feel homesick until I realised i couldn't easily return...my family are either in Heaven or scattered around the world; no one lives in Northumberland any more.
Everything changes of course. A century ago, my family were the entire population of a village & no one is left to remember them now; why that bridge has that name, who planted those trees, who built that house...its all forgotton. Sometimes i think i'm the only one left who remembers anything about our family. Certainly i seem to be the only one who cares.
My grandfather washed elephants in a Northumbrian stream, my grandmother danced the tango all night long and breastfed other women's babies, my aunt rose spoke to spirits until one of them told her not to, one uncle was a defrocked priest, another faked his own death so he could marry again, my great grand-mother raised 9 children by teaching piano, my grandfather spoke Arabic fluently & led expeditions into the desert (one of the first to explore tutankamen's tomb...we had handfuls of tiny green scarabs to play with)I had an aunt called Fairy because she was so tiny...i have a photograph of her in a purple velvet dress, an adult the same height as the pit ponies another uncle bred....I should keep all these family stories, in case, just in case I ever have great grandchildren who care.
