And then once a year, the dreaded New Year's Eve party. Skimming stones and eating sandwiches, summer and winter, no matter what the weather.Īnd every Friday night a film, no matter what the weather. By the time I was 21, we were still having tea on the beach every single day. She was then, and still is to me, about the most wonderful thing in the world.Īll in all it was a pretty good childhood. With her elfin eyes, her purple T-shirts and her eternally bare feet. In a household of sensible jackets and haircuts there was this, well, what can I call her - nature thing. His mind was on other things, though we never found out what. He was the most charming and least clever man you could ever meet. He spent the days just, well, being Uncle Desmond. After giving up teaching university students on his 50th birthday, he was eternally available for a leisurely chat or to let me win at table tennis.Īnd then there was mum's brother, Uncle Desmond. He always seemed to have time on his hands. Something rectangular, busy and unsentimental.

My mum was lovely, but not like other mums. I always knew we were a fairly odd family.

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