Farewell to Joy.

Family and friends arriving at Mortlake for the funeral of Joy. 

When someone is over 90 years old the news of their death may not seem surprising, but in fact all of us in the family were both saddened and shocked by her sudden death as we all thought she would be around for many more years.     People came from Croatia and Singapore and family were watching in Australia too.  It was an honour to stand with my brothers and niece to be part of the eulogy.  The relationship with the woman who suddenly married my Dad was always going to be complex, as a child it was bewildering and painful, as an adult too, and yet it was never spoken of but as a person I always enjoyed Joy's company and never more so after the death of my father as she helped keep his memory alive.  Joy was a very good academic in her own right, a very knowledgeable woman.  (see 

Connexions: His and Hers - An Examination of Masculinity and Femininity)

  I am very grateful for all she has done to keep the blended families together.    She will be missed by all of us.  

A joyful meal. 

Times are changing in Wormley.  Years ago when Nathan started school, he was one of only two black boys and then the other child left. Nathan was the subject of bullying and there was no value placed on his culture at all.    Luckily he formed friendships with friends from Turkish and Bangladeshi families who lived locally.  Now a very large proportion of his old senior school are from West Indian or African families as well as Turkish and British.  He would not feel so alone here now.    This was reflected in the community meal held at the local community centre and echoed up at the local museum by an exhibition on West Indian food and at this time of economic crisis it was also just a good value jolly.   get together.