Day 3 - Womb

3rd Oct 2019

Day 3 of octpowrimo.

Thinking of the prompt made me ponder on ancestors, where we all come from


Womb

Dear Rosie, your great,  great, great. great, great grandmother,
My great, great  grandmother, was
Mary Ryan - she lived in Googa- I never met her.
Your great, great , great, great grandmother,
My great grandmother, was
Winifred Stapleton - she lived in Googa - I never met her
Your great, great, great grandmother,
My grandmother, was
Katie Ryan - she lived in Thurles - I loved her dearly
Your great, great grandmother,
My mother, was
Bridie Clarke - she lived in Stanmore- I loved her too
Your great grandmother,
Me , I am
Grams to you - I live in Kent - you are fond of me and great grandad
Your grandmother,
My daughter, is
Emma Stevens - she lives in Oxford- you love her dearly
Your Dad,
My grandson . is
Ryan Stevens - he lives with you in Broseley - you adore him
And then there is you,
With your history of wombs that bore people that loved.

Irish Adventure

11th July 2019

Adventures in Ireland

We are home now, got back five days ago, although our ferry docked in Pembroke very late the Tuesday before. We spent a few days seeing children as we made our way to our own house and our own bed. 

Not that we missed the bed, we sleep very well in the camper, thank you.

 Nor did we miss the house, now a good advertisement for "The Day  of the Triphids" - the weeds were literally two feet high and that was just after nine weeks. 

And when one of the children said , "are you EVER coming home ?" after about the sixth week.... well, we were very nearly tempted not to.

Here I am at the farm, now derelict , where my grandmother was born and grew up and yes, it's raining. It is the Emerald Isle, after all. But not even the rain put a damper on my imaginations as I thought how I'd like to live here and look out at the same mountains that she looked out at all those years ago. Unlike the house, which has no firm foundations, my roots go back a long way around these parts. The years merged closer as I Imagined Nan when she was a child playing with her brothers and sisters . So much space to roam. 

I am glad to be home.

Happy to see the children and grandchildren - there's only a few left to see and then we'll have touched base with them all.

But, we had the most amazing adventure in Ireland, so we did.

More to come - hopefully, when I get more time. Odd how you can be so busy just living.

Day11 Who Are You

In response to the poem on the 11th April called "SELF"... 

Who Are You?

Who are you?

Wife ...
 For nearly forty four years,
Still learning about the other, but ultimately about yourself.
Changed with the years yet the same -
Something constructed, coiled into calm curves.

Who are you ?

Mother ...Ma, Mumma, Mum, Mumsy..  etc

Nine lives gifted to you, but not yours.
Loving them forever, yet letting them go -
Helping them negotiate the rough sea of
Continuous moments.
Hurt for them, by them and with them
Through all..

Who are you?

Grandmother...Grams, Grandma,  etc

The joy, the connection
You could not of dreamed.
Delight in new lives exploring, growing into,
Beautiful people.
Sill they manage to tug at your innards,
Melting your hardness
Moments savoured...

Who are you?

Great grandmother...Grams ( so far - love it)

Proud moments you treasure,
Honoured to be in the thoughts
Of the future.
What adventures you dream for them,
What hope you have for them
What joy they bring to you.
You are well blessed.

Who are you?

Daughter, sister, niece, cousin, aunt, great aunt, friend etc etc .
Wonderful ...

Day 11: 11th April, 11th Poem

A little something inspired by a visit to the Turner Gallery in Margate where they had an exhibition 

called   "Self".  

Sorry it's so late.

 

Great Grandmother

21st May 2017

The Miles Now Separate 

More than two years have gone by since this posting
There is another great grandchild, a brother for little Rose,
nearly ten months old already.
 The family have moved away and we rarely get to see them.
We miss them so much it hurts.
 But that's the way it goes.






23rd March 2015

Becoming Great


The day had come, more planned than she would have liked. But the medical experts, not happy with some of the measurements, did not want her to go past her "due" date. So Grandad took them, with their bags, packed many weeks before, to the hospital early that Monday morning.

I made myself a drink , sat down, took up my phone and text them to say that I was here if they needed me and waited. It felt a bit odd but we are the only family they have near so it seemed the right thing to do.
For the whole of that day I went around fidgety, in a bit of a daze, wondering what was happening to them, half doing jobs, picking up books already started, and putting the kettle on numerous times. So whenever my grandson contacted me it put my mind at rest. And, to be fair to him, he did keep me informed. I won't go into the details of the process , just to say that it was induction. Some of you will know what that means and those that don't are not ready to understand it yet.

On that first night, although I was a little unsettled, I was peaceful. I knew I would be told if anything had happened, but I didn't expect much to be happening yet. And my lovely grandson did let me know. She went into labour in the early hours of the next day. I went about life as normal, going to my creative writing group and speaking as if this was just another " ordinary" day. But just below the surface it seemed to be anything but normal as my emotions were having a little party of their own, giving me quite a rocky journey. It was a long day and I couldn't concentrate on anything.
Every time a text came I would rush to see how things were going. The last text came about 5.30 pm, they might try .... and then nothing.
Nothing...
such a long passage of nothing.
Nothing until the phone rang at 1.45am the next morning .
I knew during those hours that things must have hotted up and I found it impossible to sleep, so when that phone call came I was relieved. The baby, a girl, was healthy and arrived about 12.30 am on the morning of the 18th of March.
I was relieved,elated,and then excited. I had just been made a great grandma. So many thoughts. Five generations now in my family with my own parents still very hale and hearty. Does that happen to many people? How many Great, Great Grandparents are there? Are we unique - probably not.

I imagined the generations of our family moving forward and growing and felt a certain pride in that. In fact, I thought I had already understood quite profoundly the depth of family but this has brought a further layer to it that I had not expected, making me feel closer than ever to my own children and so grateful for them all. I feel like a mother lioness, or great grandmother lioness, gathering all the cubs about her. It's hard to put into words this enormous change that has happened to us.

Back to mum and baby:
I thought about how awake you feel after having the baby as the adrenaline courses round your body, even if you've had very little sleep. I wanted to go immediately to the hospital to see them ,bring some chocolates for the new mum who would be breastfeeding. I remember enjoying many chocolates, sweets and biscuits in the middle of the night while breastfeeding my own. However,common sense prevailed, I turned over in bed and tried to go back to sleep while thinking how this is going to change the lives of the new mother and father forever. We're never prepared for that are we??

Phone calls came one after another the next morning as family wanted to find out what was happening. Some made plans to travel to Kent as soon as they could. Two aunties to the new little princess arranged to come that day. One from Oxford, the other from London after college.


I'll keep you posted with the unfolding of this story.