This time of the year I tend to be a bit quieter than usual
It’s about this time 12 years ago I became an orphan.
It was funny but that was the first thing I thought about when I heard the news of my mother’s death.
February 2003 Mum decided she’d had enough and
in her words spoken the week before she died
‘wanted to see what Dad had been up to since she last saw him’
They’d been apart for nearly 13 years
and this is the little graveyard on the hill where the meeting took place
Mum and my sisters chose wisely all those years beforehand
knowing there was room for the two of them in the plot
She also wanted to know what he thought about them placing him on the hill that overlooked the pub.
The white building on the right of the photo is the pub 🙂
They were known for enjoying a little drink together now and again.
If the truth be told they enjoyed a little drink far more than now and again 🙂
Being Irish they loved to sing and loved to dance
Dad did have quiet seriousness about him at times so
My sisters chose the haunting melody of Crimond for Dad’s funeral.
(Please be patient with this video – it’s one that needs to be listened to – with eyes closed – rather than watched)
And this rollicking number for Mum’s
After leaving home at 18, I met and married The Golfer
and with him being in the armed forces never ever lived near to them at all.
It was the way things were and I accepted that
Yet, it’s funny
but the older I get the more I miss them
(The first two photos look much better when enlarged)
Still Waters 
This was such a lovely tribute you wrote about your parents.
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Thank you – even tho it is summer here in Australia and a time of the year my parents enjoyed I’m always sad they both passed on in the English winter.
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Both songs are beautiful and both songs are sung in the Catholic church. Very nice what you wrote about them. Yes as we age I know I am remembering those who have gone but still treasure the memories.
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I believe Crimond is a favourite version of the 23rd psalm in many religions Germaine. Takes me back to early days.
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Very lovely xx
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Thanks Lizzie – catches me every year now. Some worse than others
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I agree with Lilly’s Mom above, this is really sweet. Are the photos from Ireland?
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No – they are from a small village in Nottinghamshire where mum and dad were living. They decided not to go back to Belfast after dad retired from the airforce.
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The Irish have a way with song. Lovely Kathy! I especially liked the Lord of the Dance. A good Irish wake. Pure James Joyce.
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I didn’t manage to get to Dad’s funeral but from what I heard from my sisters it was a humdinger of a day. One sister ‘hosted’ the afternoon at her place and it seems my brother in law went round hiding his best bottles from all dad’s rellies. They’d come over from Ireland for the day and intended to enjoy it as did my mother 🙂
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May your parents rest in peace.
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Hope so Christine – would be a change as there were lots of noisy days in our house lol 🙂
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What a beautiful post in memory of your folks. I love your mother’s line about wanting to see what your dad had been up to. That orphan line got to me. It doesn’t matter the age at which that happens, does it? I think the white dress with your mother’s white hair is very becoming. Thanks for the music, too. Peace to you.
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There were times when I called my mother nosy for wanting to know all our business – but I’m sure she just had our best interests at heart 🙂
Mum went grey then white at a very early age and definitely ‘carried it off well’
Don’t you just love music that makes you feel good. Both those tunes are close to our hearts for many different reasons.
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That’s a nice tribute. Much as I complain about my mother………
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Oh yes Andrew – years ago that was me. Mum and I didn’t see eye to eye on lots of things when I was younger – shame she hasn’t been around to see or hear how I value her wisdom at times
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I am reaching for the phone more that usual to call my mother who has been gone for 7 years.
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Isn’t that true for us all Annie – they weren’t ‘phone people’ but I’m sure they hear all the chatting I do somedays
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Nice tribute to your parents. May they rest in peace.
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I think they are Gigi – was a hectic life for them, what with WW2 and all that. They certainly made up for all that stress by enjoying life in later years
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Irish funerals often end like a party with plenty of singing. I think it is a wonderful way to celebrate the life of the recently deceased.
That was a nice tribute to both of your parents.
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Thanks GM – singing played a big part in our lives so there was no way it would stop just because they weren’t there to take part 🙂
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I stopped by to check out your ‘wordless wednesday’ mentioned in another blog. But I was detoured by your first post, Monday Musings, where you spoke of feeling orphaned – much later in life than is usually considered thus. I remember, in 2013 when my father crossed over (8 years after my mother has), and I was struck by the incongruity of my feeling just that, when I was married 16 years. So it’s not so unusual for these feelings when I’m well into middle age.
Your tribute is truly lovely. Your style of writing compelling. I’m glad I stopped by.
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This is such a beautiful post, Cathy. I’m sorry for the pain of your loss, but glad for the loving memories you have of them. They sound like a happy, very loving couple.
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