Nanny Liverpool

Today would have been my Nan's birthday. If she was still with us, she would have been 96!! As it happens she made it to the grand old age of 94!!

My Nan was a real character. She was a fiercely proud Liverpudlian - NOT Scouse (the only Scouse she ever named was her famous stew). She was full of fun and energy. She was hilariously funny with the most infectious laugh. Although to be fair her humour was often very unintentional but she joined in with us as we laughed at her as well as with her! And God help you if she got a fit of the giggles because you would succumb too - no matter where you where.

I have so many wonderful memories of my 'Nanny Liverpool'. In many ways she was a typical Gemini. Sometimes, she was as easy to read as a book yet at other times, the still waters ran deeper than the ocean. She flipped from happy to low in the blink of an eye. She flitted from conversation topic to conversation topic and believe me, keeping up could be exhausting. She was incredibly protective of her loved ones and loved her children and grandchildren dearly.

Of all the memories to choose from, the one that stands out for me is her 90th birthday party. My nan was a dancer. After my Grandad Lennon died (before I was even born) she joined a Modern Sequence club and never looked back. She went on holidays with them, she went on cruises with them, she went on days out with them. Dancing was very important to her (it's where I get it from).

And I truly believe it's one of the reasons she stayed so young at heart. If there was a party or night out, Nan would be the last to leave. And her 90th was no exception. Having rounded up her dancing pals, family and friends she hired out a local venue and proceeded to have a ball.

The events kicked off at 4pm with the Compere from her Dance club taking to the mic. Witness a room full of gleaming white heads, twirling and swirling in perfect time and rhythm. I can see why my Nan thought that youngsters can't dance. In comparison to that we look like gangly, new born calves. Anyway, back to the evening. Not content with an afternoon dance, my Nan had also booked a DJ for the evening proceedings. These continued until 11pm with Nan on the dance floor for most of that time. She put us youngies to shame!

Nan often spoke of that night as a real highlight for her. Unfortunately, not long after that, her age started to catch up with her. But I will always hold those memories dearly. As a snapshot of my Nan and her attitude to everything in life it was the perfect portrait.

When Nan finally decided she'd enjoyed the party on earth for long enough I wrote a few words for her funeral. My Nan's side of the family are not huge fans of poetry unless it rhymes, so the ditty I wrote does just that. It probably sounds a little bit twee to outsiders but to those of us in the Lennon clan it says it all.




Nanny Liverpool

Our dancing Nan
So full of fun.
Always laughing;
never glum

Cream cakes and biscuits,
an ice cream or three.
Whisky and water,
'a good cup of tea'

Laughter and giggles,
dancing all night.
She may have been tiny
but she made up for that!

These are our memories
the ones we will keep
Of a lady who loved life
and who's now at peace




Wherever my Nan has ended up now, I am certain she is sipping a scotch and water before taking to the dancefloor with her beloved Jim (my Grandad Lennon). Now that really would be her idea of heaven!

A Life Less Ordinary

I've often thought that my life is just a series of random events held together by food and sleep. I'm the kind of girl who attracts the drunken nutters on the train, the kind of girl who geeky IT blokes seem determine to pursue while I'd rather meet Rob Pattinson, the kind of girl who gets a fit of giggles at the most inappropriate time, the kind of girl who gets asked for ID at the age of 30 and has to get her dad to vouch for her age - you get the picture.

I went on a date with a guy from Wigan once. I'm sure Wigan is lovely and to be fair so was the guy but his idea of funny and interesting life experiences was so far removed from mine it was painful. "This is a funny story" he'd start an anecdote with. And so I waited for 10 minutes... The tale failed to build in momentum and was so painfully unfunny that to this day, I can't recall any of the details. I like to think I'm a nice, kind, person so when he started his next anecdote with "This is a funny story", I gave him the benefit of the doubt. He's from Wigan, I thought, maybe funny is another way of saying strange there. 10 more minutes rolled by dragging a healthy clump of tumbleweed with it! All I can say is if that's what he calls funny and strange he wants to try living in my world for a while and he'd soon realise the difference. To help him gain some perspective, I told him of my time at Uni and how I had lived with some very 'interesting' people culminating in the lesbian nun who had left the Nunnery to become a teacher and a month later moved her girlfriend (who hadn't left the Nunnery and arrived in full Nun regalia) into our student house. We lived in a tiny village and were the talk of the town. Poor guy looked appalled and that was the end of that not so promising relationship!

I don't know why I should find life so full of amusement, random events and downright strange occurances but I think it's a combination of two things. The first being my ability to find the funny side to most situations and the second could well be the nature of my job.

I'm lucky enough to love my job! Don't get me wrong, if I won the Lottery, I'd pack my bags and set about finding a house with a big enough garage to hold all the classic, fast and beautiful cars that money could buy, but as I don't even purchase lottery tickets I'm not holding my breath. To return to the job, I'm a teacher. More specifically, I teach 4 and 5 year olds. This normally evokes two responses a) - oh how cute! or b) I don't know how you have the patience! My working day generally consists of a mix of the two!

People who work with small children will back me up on this. No two minutes are alike never mind two days. There is NO possibility of getting bored. You have to think on your feet, be prepared to laugh (mostly at yourself) and to be unfazed by anything the day throws at you. Strange, weird, funny, bizarre are all words that could describe most days. These tiny people keep you on your toes in a way that Red Bull can only dream of. Only today, I've been climbing ladders to hang space rockets from the ceiling, singing songs, discussing Tchaicovsky, dealing with arguments, fastening zips, writing menus and reading Charlie and Lola. The conversation is never dull either. I've been given a word for word run down on the Michael Jackson Thriller video (complete with dance moves that would make any Jacko fan proud), been told about a family holiday over half term (that for legal reasons I couldn't possibly disclose) and most thrilling of all, been told by one little darling "Miss Sunshine, I'm going to do a poo in the toilet". Lovely, you crack on!

A life less ordinary - no thanks, I like the one I've got!