Looking forward, Looking back..

I've just come back from a wonderful classical music concert at the Dome. It was the London Philharmonic Orchestra performing, and we had the Overture to the Thieving Magpie, and then a Beethoven Violin Concerto, followed by Scheherezade by Rimsky Korsakov. Just fabulous. The violin soloist was amazing, and brought tears to my eyes with his playing. Scheherazade always reminds me of our dear old Stepfather Cyril (whom we called Squirrel), because it was one of his favourite pieces of music. He was a bluff Yorkshireman who called a spade a spade, and wasn't much of a looker either, but he was pure gold. He and my Mother met while on holiday in the Italian Lakes. They had each been persuaded by friends to go on this holiday, and apparently Squirrel had taken the place of someone who cancelled at the last moment, so we always thought they were fated to meet. Anyway, he fell for my Mum on sight and she ran the other way. He pursued her throughout the holiday (they were both in their fifties at the time) and then kept turning up on our doorstep afterwards. My Mother held him off for months, but he was determined. In the end he persuaded her to marry him, and it was the best thing she ever did. He loved her so much and they used to go for walks, hand in hand. Squirrel loved Classical music and played his records whenever Sister and I visited, which was fairly often. They hadn't been married very long (about three years) when he was diagnosed with Lymphoma, which was then quite incurable. Sadly, he didn't last very long. He was put in the Royal Marsden Hospital, which was wonderful, and my little Mum went to see him and sit with him every day, from St. Albans to London and back again on the train. She did this for six months, until he died, and although we were expecting it and it was a blessing in the end, it was terribly sad. By the time he died, they had been together for only four years, and she was devastated. I think their time together was the only time in her life that she was really happy, and she had had that happiness snatched away from her. My Mum lived for another 18 years, but she was never really happy again after Squirrel.

Bad news for my planned trip to France - Son's Completion date is now 24th April. I felt very fed up when I heard it this morning, but there's nothing I can do about it. I just have to get on with it and make a new plan. Must phone BF in France and see if and when she can fit me in. I just hope she won't be too pissed off.
Heigh Ho, life is what happens when you're making other plans, I suppose. Again ...