Hatches, Matche and Despatches
My baby grandson’s christening was scheduled for 22 March. About 50 people were expected to attend the church service followed by a celebration lunch in a local pub. With a week to go, gatherings were being discouraged and the christening was cancelled. Just as well, as that week the churches and pubs were ordered to close. When we’re finally allowed to gather in church, he’ll be over a year old, and far too big to wear the family christening robes.
My nephew’s wedding on 17 April had been two years in the planning. The invitations had been sent out, gifts were starting to arrive and the outfits were ready when it had to be cancelled with barely three weeks to go. It was a beautiful sunny day – perfect for a wedding, but the bride spent it in full PPE, working as a respiratory physiotherapist in the Intensive Care Unit at Blackburn Royal Infirmary. Here’s hoping the sun shines again for them on the new date, 9 April 2021.
My mother developed a high temperature and a cough and, despite the ban on visitors, the nursing home staff agreed that I could spend time with her as her health deteriorated. Just 5 days later, on 24 March, she passed away peacefully in her sleep. The cause of death was recorded as pneumonia, but we’ll never know whether it was Covid19. With the family scattered all over the country and travelling banned, the funeral was a very sad affair with only my husband and I in attendance. The priest rushed through the cremation in ten minutes. Thankfully, nearly 100 friends and family had gathered only three months earlier to celebrate Mum’s 100th birthday. She was full of fun and loved socialising. The party was a more fitting tribute to a grand old lady who was so loved and admired, and I’m relieved that she didn’t have to endure months of isolation which she would have hated.
Myra