A Wonderful Day

Some days are made to remember for all the right reasons. Today was like that. The sun was shining and our daughter and her husband, Matt, and wonderful son, Archie, 3 and a half years old of blond, beautiful fun were to come over for lunch.

There is no big story here, nothing to shout about, no big message, just a small piece about love.

About mid-day the family arrived, carrying deli food which, if you like that kind of thing, seems to come direct from heaven, via a place called Yummies in Radlett. I don't have shares nor even know the current owners, but I still think they were sent for our pleasure.

I received two phone calls today, just before the family arrived, from my cousins. They had both heard from my sister about the very bad day I I had that I reported to you a couple of weeks back when I was on a cruise ship in Mexico. They both wanted me to know they cared. It gave me a very warm feeling that both my cousins, who know me so well, still do care, just like I was still a little boy in the warm embrace of the family.

My daughter and her family settled in, and we all sat outside in the lovely, warm sunshine. The last couple of days there had been a duck, who we'd named Mrs. Puddleduck, who had taken up residence in our garden. I hoped that she'd come to greet Archie, but she decided to be elsewhere. So we inflated the puddling pool and watched everyone have fun. Georgia, my daughter, is pregnant with her second child, due in July, and its wonderful to see her in bloom at the same time as the rest of the world.

I felt a desperate need for confectionary so I asked Archie and Matt if they wanted to accompany me. Archie was ready in an instant, and Matt soon thereafter. We walked to the sweet shop and Archie soon found the penny sweets, which now cost two pennies. He made his selections that he handed to the proprieter, a middle aged lady from the Indian sub-continent. When she had finished and handed Archie his bag of sweets, I paid for them. Archie then said, "Now Poppa can spend some of his money on himself." We laughed, as I did so, purchasing some stuff for the rest of the family.

After buying some quickly melting ice cream on the way back we soon walked back to consume our purchases and relax in each other's company. At the end of the day, with the warmth still in the air, the kids went home. Later there was a phone call from Georgia. She told me that, when Matt was putting Archie to bed, my grandson said, "Poppa's a very nice man isn't he." He could give me no bigger gift.

What a great day.