T’SHUVA

Today (Saturday 14 Oct) we took Jonathan to Birmingham Airport for and an 11am flight back to Sweden (via Copenhagen). This meant leaving Cardiff at 7am on a Saturday morning, it was hardwork waking up early on a weekend day but you do it for a loved one who needs a lift!

The flight was on time and we found ourselves saying goodbye again and watching our son disappear to the departure lounge. It is painful saying goodbye when you are a close family but I consoled myself that Christmas was coming and we’d get to spend some time together in about 10 weeks time.

The plan was that after dropping Jonathan at the Airport we would have some quality time together by exploring a National Trust property on the way back to Cardiff. Croome Park was the place we decided upon but somehow we managed to get lost! A comfort break was needed by this time so we found a parking space in a small town / village and asked some local people if they could direct us to Croome Park.

Our guides were a lovely old couple both in their mid 80’s who were on their way back to their own car after visiting the local market. They were very helpful once we had located the correct district on the map. We talked for a while with this dear couple - I to the wife and Neil to the husband.

The wife informed me that she too had ‘children abroad’. A daughter with two precious grandsons in the USA and a son who had recently moved to Italy with his wife. I sensed she really missed her loved ones. From our conversation I quickly gathered that she and her husband regularly paid the airfares for their grandsons to visit them in England. There is a cost to living in a global village. I encouraged the use of email but she said after several attempts neither of them could grasp how to use the computer or operate an email system.

As we talked I was very much aware how well behaved their little dog was who just waited patiently. I shared with the wife about Oscar and his illness. She encouraged me to have another dog after Oscar. She had had 3 dogs all named Ethel (as this was the only name her husband could remember!!!). Each one had brought joy and life to their lives. The current Ethel was having a walk at midnight the previous night. The wife believed that having a dog had kept them both fit and healthy.

It was time to say goodbye again. This time to two strangers who had many things in common with Neil and I. Both happily married, both devoted parents and both living in the UK whilst our children lived abroad.

Neil and I did eventually find Croome Park and thoroughly enjoyed it.