five minute friday: cherished

I missed it! The first Five Minute Friday of 2013 and I forgot. Can I have a Five Minute Early-Hours-Of-Tuesday instead?

Cherished

There's a story in our family folklore that goes like this. When I was little, about five or so, I was walking holding hands with Nana - my paternal grandmother. She wore a ring, a ruby set in diamonds, a sparkly ring that had caught my eye.

"Nana, when you die can I have your ring?"

Precocious child wasn't I? There's a whole prodigal son parable waiting to happen right there!

Thankfully my Nana was more gracious than that. I have no recollection of the story happening, although I've heard it so many times that I'm starting to believe I remember it. From what I know of Nana I'd be very surprised if she didn't laugh at that moment. Probably quite a lot.

Nana had three sons, who in turn delivered four grandchildren; my two male cousins, my brother and I. Here she is with her first grandson, my cousin Simon. So as the first female for three generations, I was cherished. That's not to say she didn't love and cherish the boys too, of course she did. But I have memories of a very special relationship with her as I was growing up.

She died when I was 14, very unexpectedly. And in her will, also unexpectedly, she left me her jewellery. All of it, including that sparkly ring.

What an honour - Nana loved her jewellery and much of it tells her story. A delicate maple leaf necklace from her time spent in Canada. A Maltese cross, also from her travels. A gold sovereign that Grandad had set into a pendant for her. A locket with cherished photographs in it. A charm-bracelet so laden with charms that it's too heavy to wear, but each one of those in turn tells its own story, many of them stories I wish I knew.

I've enjoyed looking through those items many times. Cherished pieces of memory, reminders of a cherished relationship with her. I'm considering selling some of the pieces to buy one simple thing that I could wear to remind me of her. But there's much to think about before then.

But I love the way they remind me of her. Of the things we did together, the ridiculous jumpers she knitted (it wasn't really her best skill!), the white plastic donkey flower pot holder in the garden, the holidays at her house in Wales where there was a JCB at the end of the street. Cherished memories of a Nana who cherished me.

And a tiny hint of how much more we all are cherished by God. How I wish I understood that!

This blog is part of Five Minute Friday - a group of bloggers who write about a given subject for five minutes without, stopping, overthinking, editing or backtracking. There's rules:

* Check what the prompt is on www.lisajobaker.com
* Write a post in only five minutes on that topic on your blog.
* Link to Lisa's website and invite friends to join in.
* Select the permalink to your post {so not your blog url www.lisajobaker.com but your post url www.lisajobaker.com/2012/07/five-minute-friday-2/ }
* Using the linky tool at the bottom of Lisa's Five Minute Friday post enter your link.
* Your post will show up in our Five Minute Friday linky.
Be sure and encourage the person who linked up before you!

like father, like son?

They even both pull the same silly faces when in front of a camera!

bonkers for conkers

We visited Gav and Em in their spacious country house this weekend for lovely food, DIY tasks, funny games, DVD borrowing and a walk along the Trent.

Does anyone ever grow out of collecting conkers?

keep it in the family

Short post because I'm blogging from school as we have no internet at home. (Long story but can be explained in 2 words.... Orange Broadband) Grrrr!

Anyway... all I wanted to say was this:

My brother has a blog! (with his wife who hasn't posted anything yet but she is lovely and I should have mentioned her in the original post too)

new house

Here we are!! We've been in Cov now for over a week and are all settled and nearly unpacked in our proper grown up house. I even mowed the lawn (front and back!!) yesterday so be impressed!

Friday:

1 bathroom packed and cleaned (thanks Jude)

1 kitchen packed and cleaned (thanks Pippa)

1 wardrobe and 1 bed dismantied (and 1 couple sleeping on the floor that night!)

2 bedrooms hoovered

Everything we own that was left to pack packed (phew!)

4 yummy take away Thai meals from the Cock and Dragon and 1 sausage and chips from the chippy down the road

Saturday

7 bacon sarnies

5 willing helpers (thanks Steve, Achanda, Jason, Daniel and Stu)

1 large lorry with tail lift (just a perk of having a father in law who works in van hire)

1 lorry loaded in 2.5 hours

1 whole house hoovered and emptied

1 piano collected from Harpenden

1 piano deposited in Marsh Farm

1 HUGE lunch prepared by my mum

1 piano collected from my parents' house

1 lorry and 2 cars zooming up the M1

4 more willing helpers (thanks Mum, Dad, Gavin and Bernie)

1 empty lorry and 1 house full of boxes

2 rats relieved to be out of their small cage and back in their cage mansion again

1 Chinese meal consumed

1 bed and 1 wardrobe reassembled

1 kitchen unpacked (thanks Gav)

5 new neighbours met.... Hi Steve, Mary, Natasha, James and Lauren

lots of tired people

Since then...

7 pieces of flat pack furniture assembled

Several boxes unpacked

Several bags filled with rubbish, too many to fit in the wheelie bin

A disgustingly large amount of money spent on furniture (err.. hello IKEA)

1 bargain new sofa (err... hello Oxfam home store!)

1 thumb hit with hammer and two heads banged on door frames/loft beams

Too much time spent with finger under cold tap, waiting for it to get hot (they are the other way around here)

1 church visited and one guy met who used to go to Dan's parents' church in Enfield

1 BBQ and several microwave or just-add-water meals (our cooker isn't connected yet)

1 tiny but very noisy camping fridge in the kitchen (our fridge freezer won't arrive until September)

Several employment agencies visited and one telephone interview. No work yet though.

Someone I'd like you to meet...

This is the man who taught me to surf.
He used to play toy cars with me when I was little. The only person I know who made a noise like "ning ning ning" instead of "brrrm brrrm" for cars.
He navigated a Mosquito in WWII (and if you don't know what that is, it's a tiny plane made entirely of wood)
He had an amazing passion for music, playing the organ, singing, performing in operas in his younger days. In his 60s/70s he rebuilt the organ at the baptist church in Combe Martin
He never stopped encouraging me to share and develop that passion, taking an interest in everything I did musically, gently pushing me further every time.
He was the first person to comment on how I looked on my wedding day.
He was, by all accounts, a great teacher and headmaster. I'd love to have been taught by him.
He had an inspirationally unending, quiet, gentle, strong love for his wife of 57 years.
This is the man who was known as Superman at his local hospital because he survived so much. And you knew when it was really bad because it was only then that he complained.
He played a mean game of canasta too.
Most importantly, he knew Jesus. He had a depth of faith and confidence in him that underpinned everything he did. More than music, family, canasta or anything else, this is what drove him.

This is Ivor Shaw, my Grandad. He died last week and I'm feeling inspired by him. I want to be a good wife to Dan in the same way he was a good husband to Grandma. I want to be a passionate, committed, inspirational teacher like he was. I want to still be surfing in my 60s and beyond and I want to have brown hair (no dye involved) when I'm 82. I want to face whatever life throws at me with the confidence and dignity that he did. And most of all, I want to be like Jesus like he was like Jesus.