Goodbye Uncle John

I remember when I was little. Visits from Uncle John were so special. He made such a fuss of us. I used to sit on his knee and he would tell us all funny stories of things he had done. He ran his own company and always brought us keyrings and pens and things with the company logo on. They were the best things in the world then. When I got a bit older he used to come down and take us out for a meal in a posh restaurant. It was the only time I ever got to go to a proper restaurant. I loved telling my friends about.

I remember once, he was showing me the credit cards in his wallet. I really liked the holographic bird on one of them. He said that when the card expired I could have it. Mum & Dad both told me not to be upset if he forgot because it would be quite a long time before the card expired. I forgot about it, then one day months and months later I got a little letter from him with the holograph attached. I was so excited. It meant a lot that he'd remembered.

I was really excited when he said they were moving closer to where we lived. He lived in Hertfordshire and we only got to see him about twice a year, so it would mean we would see him a lot more. He was selling the business and buying a couple of old cottages which he planned to convert. I never saw what it looked like before he had it renovated, but apparently it was just two old large cottages and some stables set on a very large plot of land with a pond and woods etc. When it was renovated it was lovely. I remember being amazed by how big it was. I used to get lost just going to the bathroom.

When Larry & I decided to get married, we were quite young and although we had a bit of money saved we were going to settle for a small wedding that we could afford. Uncle John said that if we wanted a big wedding we should have one. He was well off, but he had worked hard for the money he had and I told him I could not accept his money. He didn't give me a choice. He insisted on giving me the money, so I very gratefully accepted. He also let us use his Daimler as a wedding car and was our chauffeur for the day even taking us to the hotel we'd booked for the wedding night. We had a lovely wedding in a big church and couldn't have done it without him.

The following year we bought our first flat in Southampton. Again, he helped us out with lots of helpful advice about legal matters and helped us out temporarily with a loan for the deposit.

After moving away from home, we only saw Uncle John at Christmas and family occasions such as weddings. In recent years we have lost touch with him and my Aunty apart from Christmas cards. We were busy with our children and work. We haven't visited my parents so often and when we have, time has always been so short we haven't had time to visit anyone else.

On Sunday I had a call from my Dad. I knew it was important. Dad never (almost never) phones me. Uncle John was in hospital with Pneumonia. They had been to visit him and although he looked tired and pale, he was in good spirits, still telling amusing stories.

This morning, I had a call from my mum. Uncle John died this morning. He had been ill for quite a long time and for a few years now he has been warning everyone this might be his last birthday or his last Christmas. Well, he didn't make it to either this year. His birthday is next Thursday.

I am glad my dad got to see his brother before he died and that he will have a recent memory of him joking and telling stories. I am sad I didn't get to see him, but I shall remember him as my favourite uncle who used to sit me on his knee and tell me silly stories which he exaggerated so much that they bore no resemblence to the actual event, but which were amusing and entertaining all the same.

Goodbye Uncle John xxx

Why I Hate Facebook...

I really am starting to hate the bloody thing. Yes, I am just about to go off on one of my rants, so please stop now if you are in a positive mood, because you'll be reaching for the Prozac (or more of it if you are a regular reader :s) by the time I am through!

Firstly, I hate the way facebook tells you "10 of your friends think you are sexy!" Get stuffed. Most of the people on my friends list don't even think I am worth inviting out to the pub, let alone think I am sexy.

Secondly, 'friends list' - that's a joke. Hardly any of the people on my 'friends list' are true friend's. Some of my good friends are not even on there as they have either decided not to join Facebook or only use their computers when they have to. Some of the people on my list don't even know me. It's ridiculous!

Thirdly, on my 'friends list' I have parents (of children I have taught in the past), teachers I work / have worked with, parents (from the playground at Little Z's school) and real friends. You will notice 'real friends' is at the end of the list. This is because it is the category with the fewest people in it! Many of these people know each other and some of them have a 'teacher / pupil's parent' relationship. I am not very comfortable about this. Conversations on Facebook are very public. I have had some conversations with some people that I would not like certain people to read, but as you never know who is on your friend's friends' 'friends lists' (still with me?) you could be talking in front of anyone!

Fourthly, Facebook makes me miserable. I regularly see the pictures and read reports of all the great things my 'friends' are doing that I am not. I am not a jealous person, but it reminds me that I don't have any money and that even if I did I probably wouldn't be invited anyway!

Fifthly, (yes, I am still ranting, you might as well keep reading now you've started!) I just don't see the point in all these 'send your friend a snowflake', 'ooh, send your friend a different crappy snowflake'. It reminds me of when I was a boring child with no imagination (er.....??? ok, leave that one :s) and my friends at nursery wanted to play with dolls. I never understood why they wanted to. What's the point? They are not real!

Sixthly (is that even a word? I can barely pronounce it!), Groups. There are too many groups set up by people who can't spell or punctuate or at least 'check their work before they hand it in' :) Again, what is the point of these groups? I can see that some groups have been set up so that people can discuss areas of interest with likeminded facebookers. However, when people just set up a group to rant about something in the news when there are already 8 existing groups on the subject, for goodness sake, get a blog! (oh, yeah!)

There are a few things I like about Facebook. But I am not going to write about them in a post entitled 'Why I Hate Facebook...' now, am I!