Tuesday, 9th September, 2008

Sorry about the extended silence. Got kind of sidetracked with some health things. But the break has given me chance to think back to some very early parts of my adult life.

As some of you know I have been 'paying it forward' from long before the movie came out. I have been doing this in honour of a lady whose name I will never know but who performed act of kindness for me so long ago.

I was 18, 8 months pregnant and stony broke. I was on my way back to the Isle of Wight with my (then) partner with me riding on the back of a Suzuki 125cc motorbike. I sat on a PanAm bag on the luggage rack, the bump that was soon to be Jonathan rested on the passenger bit and my partner was on the front driving.

We stopped at a Little Chef. It's a motorway type café, kind of like Wendy's or Tim Horton's. We got in there at about 3.00 a.m. We were cold and tired. We carefully counted out our money and ordered what we could afford, one cup of tea, extra milk please. The lady behind the counter told us to sit down and she would bring it right over. A short while later she brought over two cups of tea and two full English breakfasts. We were really alarmed. 'We didn't order this!' I was so frightened we would be charged for the mistaken order. She just smiled and told us to eat our breakfast and stop worrying. She wouldn't even let us pay for the one cup of tea. I have never forgotten her.

We thought we were going to miss the ferry so we were riding in the tailwind of lorries (semi's/tractor trailer) and then at the last minute veered left to make it before they closed the ferry tailgate and we could get home to the island. No don't bother to write about how crazy that was. We know. When you are 18 you have no fear and have huge amounts of ignorant self-confidence to boost that view.

Speaking of daft things I have done. About four years later I had this telephone conversation with my brother.

Andrew: How you doing?
Carolyn: Good.
Andrew: What's that noise?
Carolyn: Hairdryer.
Andrew: You're drying your hair?
Carolyn: I'm drying the television.
Andrew: Why?
Carolyn: I have a flower pot on top of the television and Jonathan watered it and the water went down the back and now there is no picture as such, just a thin white line across the middle of the screen.
Andrew: What do you mean you are drying it?!
Carolyn: I turned it off, unplugged it, I have unscrewed the back and taken that off and now I am blow-drying it.
Andrew: Stop it!
Carolyn: Why?
Andrew: Because even unplugged it still has a charge.
Carolyn: I know. I'm not touching it.
Andrew: Please stop it!
Carolyn: It's looking quite dry in there now. Hang on I'll screw the cover back on.
Andrew: Oh God!
Carolyn: Plugging it in……..
Andrew: Oh God!! Do NOT touch anything.
Carolyn: Turning it on and hey! It's back. You worry too much.
Andrew: Sigh...... Don't do it again.