Hi guys, Grandad here, how are you? I’m thinking I haven’t seen you for a wee while, so need to catch up – will do soon!
Quite by accident I came across an online message today that brought to my, somewhat surprised attention, that on the day, 24th June, 1977, 45 years today, I graduated from Callender Park College as a primary teacher, along with a couple of hundred others.
There we were, outside Falkirk Town hall, following the doffing of an academic cap, everyone grinning in the sunshine, chuffed as can be.
People gravitated to small, family groups, congratulations all round and left to have lunch or head home to celebrate.
I was so pleased to be there with my dad, sister, brother in law and my girlfriend – your grandmother – who I was pretty much smitten by. Your grandma’s mum and dad, Ethel and Bill were there too – we headed for lunch to the Park Hotel and a fine time was had by all. We fled in our different directions, me and your grandma heading to a dance in the evening. For us, the start of something great, one could say a lifetime of adventures. That, my loved ones, for another time.
Just reflecting on this a little, 45 years jumped into my head as, well, my life. I’m 67 today, 22 years old on Graduation – for the first of 5 times, woo-hoo – and appreciating that my life and stories prior to being 22 weren’t without occasion, I thought that 45 years was the rump of my life, and for God’s sake, it’s behind me.
I could reflect on so much, and will as I travel around, sit around and so on, it’s a worm in my head so I guess it won’t go away.
Hundreds of thousands of adventures, small and huge. I always considered every wee activity, journey, a wee adventure. I considered myself grateful for anything that occurred. I valued them all, planned or accidental.
I’ve got hundreds and hundreds of stories for you guys, mostly happy ones, but for today I’m recalling stuff that happened elsewhere and here, there and everywhere.
So, in a random way, in those 45 years, I – and your grandma, got married, she divorced me, 15 years on, we had 2 kids, your mum and dad, Rod and Flo, we got jobs, moved to the Borders, Galashiels to Lauder, I stayed for 30+ years, where we bought our first house in Crofts Road and what could be argued as my first home at West High Street.
We joined in the community activities, often around pubs, bar b q’s and young kids. French camping, Greek taverna’s, shared with people whom I thought at the time were friends.
Work opened doors – travel to over a dozen countries with work, hosted at home people of 10 nationalities – a lot of French who became good friends and contacts. Your grandma became a well respected teacher, I worked too long hours at being a community worker, got promotion at work probably younger than I should have, joined the Children’s Panel, several youth trusts, co-founded Community Woodlands and Borders Forest Trust amongst other stuff.
People, friends passed away, lifes rich tales struck home, living on my own, I worked all hours across Scotland and the UK, trips to Europe grew, I helped make a local film, CD, started to be a radio broadcaster – 28 years – after dinner speaker – approx. 100+. Plus concerts and events – all faded away as I write now!!
Charity work, local and hikes to Borneo, Nepal, Scottish Highlands , finished playing football, won a few trophies – ha, and all this time I have to confess to wasting money on cars!
I sailed around the Scottish Islands, got to St Kilda and now go back when I can to Harris and Lewis.
I now am retired, do some writing, mostly poetry, stopped doing work stuff. Four, so far, beautiful noisy grand kids, and moved to Melrose to cope with severe osteo arthritis – I f@*&+)g hate what it’s done. I think almost daily thats its a kind of Karma punishment for not living a better life.
There are hundreds of mini-chapters for my story.
However, more critically, in the` wide world, there are wars every day, millions being killed by other human people every day, terrorism killing folks on our doorstep, terrible governments, including the UK, ruining good people’s lives – hundreds of thousands of innocents murderd by the ‘civilised’ western nations, as legitimate collateral, apparently – and events, Lockerbie, Berlin Wall, Trade Buildings, bombings in Northern Ireland, the Ainslie Park Cairngorm disaster (50 anniversary years last November – look it up), train crashes , boats sinking, planes crashing and now world wide pandemics, already ignored plagues and famines that we, the sandwich loaded middle classes happily ignore. I know,
random and to what point?
All sorts, no justice paid here, just examples. We suffer under white middle aged men playing power games, sacrificing others as fodder. Women? Well, they are only now getting it together, after three hundred years of cruelty. Read the stories, poems, tales and join the struggle.
Today guys, this very day, a Russian despot called Vladimir Putin is killing thousands in Ukraine, a full on war. We have had them in Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Syria, recently . Our UK government is not only broken but corrupt and incompetent, taking our country to hell! Making money from it.
The USA has proven itself to be the most dysfunctional nation on earth.
Kids, thats it. So much more to recall and write. None the less, I bless the forty five years, from that initial graduation, for you, your mums, dads and great grandparents too.
College report?
Could do better!?