What an interesting day! I checked my email this morning and there was a note from a cousin I have not heard of for years. Our family was rather a disparate one. There were little feuds and standoffs that resulted in me growing up not knowing many of my cousins. But I knew Martin who was a couple of years younger than me and very shy (at that time.) They didn’t live near us but my mother and his mother (they were sisters and fond of each other) would meet in London and we’d go to Lyon’s Corner House on the corner (of course!) of Trafalgar Sq and The Strand. I remember having the biggest knickerbocker glory I’ve ever eaten. I can still see the glace cherry on top – the only bit I didn’t like because it tasted like poison! It was left with its sickly glaze on the side of the doily-ed plate.
The big thing for tourists in those days was the strolling photographer who would take pictures of you feeding the pigeons (not poisoning them with glace cherries!) by the fountains. This photo of the two of us taken in the 1950s is a rare surviving image of my childhood, as many photos were lost in a burglary years ago.
So tonight for the first time in fifteen years Martin and I chatted. It was interesting hearing his side of old family stories, but it mainly got me thinking that a positive side of this current situation is that it has brought me back into contact with my family. I am sure there must be others who have found the same. This is a time when the present day band of friends and family may expand to include those from our distant past. An adventure that has overtaken my walk experience today.
