A letter to myself. July 6th 2023.

Good morning, Colin, It’s rather gloomy outside today but, hey, you’re not looking too bad for someone who’s just hit their 70th birthday. Brasserie Blanc is booked for lunch (thank goodness some of their restaurants have survived after everything that happened) and, hopefully, everybody that replied will still be attending – most people do when someone else is paying!

Can you remember all the people who came along to your 65th at the same venue? A few, of course, are not around anymore, but you did well to maintain contact with so many of them. That was always your style, though, wasn’t it, keeping in touch with old-and not so old- friends? A bit needy, perhaps? Maybe, but people generally seemed to appreciate the regular ‘witterings’ that you sent out, even if you were – and nothing new here – a bit O.T.T. with some of the comments and humorous asides. Still, as you always said, there’s no point in worrying about things like that – although you often did, of course.

You always said that you felt 2020 would be the beginning of the next phase of your life: you’d run your workshops in schools for twelve years; Sylvia, your partner, was due to retire from teaching and, of course, you felt that your beloved dog, Snoop, was, perhaps, nearing the end of his rescued life. People say that some inner sense tells you when the time is right to move on – and that was the case for you, wasn’t it?

The whole pandemic ‘thing’ seemed to put many aspects of your life into perspective; yes, you lost a fair amount of money because of the dreadful financial problems encountered across the country – and the whole world – but, sensibly, you realised that you didn’t need it all anyway. Like most clichés, the one about ‘as long as I’ve got my health’ proved to be true.

I’m not sure whether you should have done more to help other people, Colin. Okay, you ‘did your bit’ for neighbours and a couple of friends who were in need, but why didn’t you help the NHS? Were you lethargic? That’s not your style. Selfish? Not really. Scared? Perhaps. It wasn’t easy, was it?

Anyway, enjoy your lunch, Colin, and make sure that you keep in touch. But I know that you will.

Fond thoughts, Colin.