Tuesday 27 February 2007

Laughing, loving and loved


I am back home again after a wonderful whirlwind of a weekend in Somerset celebrating my brother's 40th birthday.

Unfortunately because of the animals we could only be away for the one night - not fair to impose on the neighbours for longer than that! So we drove down on Saturday, having first picked up my Goddess-daughter Rachel (who attends University nearby) and her new boyfriend. I have to admit I was a little apprehensive, having only met him once before for about 30 seconds! The idea of a 3+ hour car journey trying to make polite chit-chat with a virtual stranger was a bit daunting.

I needn't have worried. He is lovely - and they are so wrapped up in eachother chit-chat was quite superfluous anyway. Driving down through blinding spring sunshine and squally showers, with the two of them giggling and flirting together, I found myself with a huge grin on my face as their happiness permeated the entire car. I felt like a teenager again myself. Oh, first love! There's really nothing like it is there?

The party itself was wonderful! It was such a joy to walk into the room and find so many loved ones there! My brother is a professional Henry VIIIth re-enactor (his website is here: http://www.goodkinghal.co.uk/) so the party had a Tudor theme: many people (including yours truly) had come in Tudor fancy dress (some more historically accurate than others!), and authentic Tudor food was served - plentiful and delicious. The entertainment included live music from a wonderful folk duo, and - one of my personal highlights - a half-hour comedy playlet penned by my brother, enhanced by much witty ad-libbing and hilariously wonky sound effects. It was one of those evenings during which at some point you look around and think how lucky you are just to be here, with these people, laughing, loving and loved.

Oak has written on a similar theme recently in 'I am the wealthy one', on her blog (http://branchesup.blogspot.com/), and today I feel like agreeing, 'Oh yes, me too, me too!!'

2 comments:

Mike Farley said...

It was wonderful to have you there and it has proved to be such a successful night that I have been requested to hold another birthday party next year and write another short play... You have been warned. Wonderful Blog - keep it up!

Breezy said...

Fits the bill on number 1 perfectly. Sounds like a great evening