It was 40 years ago that a baby was placed in my hands. This was the child we had been waiting for 9 months, watching the bump grow and grow, eventually with me being woken in the night by tiny kicks in the back. Incredibly, my wife was not awakened by the kicks inside. I …
Category: Family
In memory of mum, 1929 – 2016
40 blogs of Lent — day 22 Yesterday was Mum's birthday, tomorrow will be Mothering Sunday. It will be four and a half years since she passed away, and this time of year is a poignant reminder of her, and particularly who she was before dementia cruelly changed her personality. The old mum was always …
A poem from the Service of Thanksgiving for the Life of Betty Hill
A poem from the Service of Thanksgiving for the Life of Betty Hill Holy Trinity Church, Huddersfield, Wednesday 30th January 2019 Ida Betty Hill 13th July 1939 - 6th January 2019 At the funeral service for my mother-in-law Betty Hill, my daughters, Ruth Taylor-Yorke and Anna Laverick read a poem they had written about their …
Continue reading A poem from the Service of Thanksgiving for the Life of Betty Hill
Farewell Betty
Ida Betty Hill, 13 July 1937 – 6 January 2019 Today is the date of Betty, my mother-in-law's funeral. She is sadly missed. I first met Betty in 1980 when I started going out with my now wife of nearly 38 years, Linda. Being one of six children I thought I knew what a chaotic …
Goodbye Betty
Ida Betty Hill, 13 July 1937 - 6 January 2019 Yesterday afternoon my Mother-in-law Betty passed away peacefully with family around. Yesterday started for us with a phone call. Our daughter Anna had phoned Aden Mount care home, where Betty had been looked after and was telling us that we ought to go and be …
Transformed: becoming like Jesus in suffering
Transformed: becoming like Jesus in suffering Holy Trinity Church, Huddersfield, Sunday 8 July 2018 Back to my usual church after a week at my Dad's place, and the overall impression was that it was too warm. Even the thick stonework of a pre-Victorian traditional English church could not keep the heat out. It was cooler …
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Mum
Mum My old blog balaam.wibsite.com can no longer be accessed. Using the Wayback Machine I am trying to save whatever can be saved, There are no images available for these old blogs. This blog is from 3 January 2013 Mum has dementia. Dad has a bad heart and knees, yet he has become a full …
Do not be afraid
Do not be afraid Christ the King, Battyeford, Sunday 1st July 2018 Not my usual church. This is my Dads church, although it was my church between 1974 to 1978 when I lived with my parents. I have even been on this church's PCC. I spent the day by taking the bus from Huddersfield, which …
37 and counting
37 and counting. Today the Lovely Linda and I have been married for 37 years. We are still very happy together. Tonight we will be spending the evening and night at a location deep in the Pennines with a meal and possibly an odd gin or two. Things never work out as you imagined. Having …
Saying Goodbye
Aunty Phyl Aunty Phyl, who died aged 101 on Christmas Day 2017, Had her ashes scattered on a path near Hartshead Hall Farm, where her grandfather and my great-grandfather had a dairy herd back in the day. The farm is now a shire horse stud. We first had lunch at Whiteley's Garden centre, a place …
Making an ass of myself 