The Way We Were

Today after escaping the usual morning calamities of the forgotten lunchbox kind, I shrugged my sun burnt shoulders into a halterneck cheesecloth dress and hopped into the car to visit Ouissi.
The sun was shining, I was listening to the “Uncommon Reader” on a cd and all was well with the world for there is nothing lovelier than tea with a friend who knows exactly how to make it…

When I arrived I was greeted by Ouissi and Hepburn, (her lovely black cat who surely must be my little Alice’s Mum) and (oh bliss) a lovely cold glass of pink lemonade and soon settled down on Ouissi’s sofa in a living room so  that must fallen straight out of the lovely Mollie Makes, for a long gab and the absolute horror of watching myself on television eight years ago.

Oh yes. Though I have long hoped that my appearance on “Housewives of Suburbia” had long been swallowed up by the black hole that is my very own Room 101, Dear Ouissi must surely be the only person in the whole wide world who kept the videotape and was kind enough to transfer it on cd in order to shock me into an early grave.

Bless her heart!

Though for reasons I can’t explain I was scared of seeing it again. Eight years is a long time and my world has done a few somersaults since that film crew arrived and had me waffling on about pink bin-bags on national TV! And then there we were, Ouissi and I, eating a delightful lunch of salmon quiche and good cheese, while all my yesterdays were played out in front of us…

My baby was a baby again! His Dad was sitting on my lace covered sofa, looking like a little boy and laughing about the foibles he eventually blamed for leaving me just six months later! The house was entirely different: messier, less careful than it is now! And me? I was wandering around doing things with a green feather duster, with my top on back to front! Hell yeah, that’s how I rolled back then and I must confess, that is probably exactly how I roll now! 

Oh my. My first and only tv appearance was a little bit of madness. Only the day before I had come out of Alder Hey hospital with Finley after a two week stay that had me worried out of my wits. The house was a mess. I was stressed up the eyeballs with a baby so sick he vomited everything he ate.  The washing machine had burst and leaked all over my kitchen floor so the program was filmed on black sticky lino I remain mortified by. Though not quite as mortified as I am about the size of my bum fetchingly wrapped in a green floral pinny!

And yet, and yet, and yet… I was happy. Though it is clear I was tired, you can tell how silly and happy and content I was and to have this period of my life captured like this is a blessing, not the hideous nightmare I had anticipated…

So this is a thank-you to Ouissi. Though we sat crying laughing at Mark’s announcement that I had “gone too far” by colour coding the bookcase, and I watched with hands over my eyes, I am so grateful to have this little bit of my life captured now in a format I can keep for always.

Sitting down and being able to show Finley the way we were is an absolute gift. 

P.S: Apologies for the grainy images. The only way I could share it with you was to take snapshots of my screen!

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