Giving Away My Daughter 2

The poem 'I Gave Away My Little Girl' formed in my head over 2 or 3 days before I typed it up late one morning. That afternoon I was rubbing down and re-staining the window frames at the top of the house when the following poem sprung into my head. I was thinking about how lucky we are in this country and what my daughter's situation would have been like in a completely different country and culture.

I SOLD MY LITTLE GIRL TO A STRANGER

I sold my little girl to a stranger
I didn’t really want to
But we needed the money for food

I sold my little girl to a stranger
She couldn’t get married
As I couldn’t afford a dowry

I sold my little girl to a stranger
I needed to keep my sons
As boys are strong
And can work our fields

I sold my little girl to a stranger
Even though I love her.

I sold my little girl to a stranger
To stop the rest of us starving.

I sold my little girl to a stranger
He said he would look after her
But we haven’t heard from her since

I sold my little girl to a stranger
And they tell me now
He is a sex trader.

I sold my little girl to a stranger
My heart is broken.

In-laws

In my last post I mentioned my son-in-law which seemed perfectly natural since he married my daughter 4 weeks ago. Of course this makes me a father-in-law which I quite like but my wife isn't so happy as she has become a mother-in-law. Why are all the jokes about mothers-in-law (Les Dawson - 'My mother-in-law has got a job at Heathrow - kick starting jumbo jets.') but none about the father-in-law?

Wedding Etiquette

My married daughter is back from her honeymoon and slowly moving her things from our house to their maisonette. Great progress must have been made because I can now see carpet in 'her bedroom' (how long will it take us to stop calling it that?) from the doorway almost as far as the radiator under the window - I'm not sure I've seen that bit of radiator for several years!

I now know that they spent a long time pondering a question of etiquette for which the wedding books didn't provide and answer. They don't tell you when to update your Facebook status to married and change the bride's surname!!! Rather than surreptitiously using a mobile during the service or during the reception they opted to do it while in the taxi from the reception to the hotel; while drinking a bottle of champagne.

Here is another picture of the bride in her finery:

Mrs Newman

My daughter has now changed her name and is Mrs Newman and no longer Ms Aylward. Here are a few on my pictures - I didn't take many and most of the ones worth seeing are on Facebook. However this may be easier viewing.

One thing I didn't mention yesterday, because I didn't want my daughter to know, was that I woke up with a chest infection. Thankfully though bad not as bad as some and I keep antibiotics and steroids at home for these occasions. However I got through the day without keeling over - probably because the barrel of beer was finished fairly early in the evening!

This is the bride in all her finery.

The bride and bridesmaid - I like this picture.

The car - an 1930's Rolls Royce Wraith

The bride and groom. As you can see the weather couldn't havce been better.

The view from the top table in the marquee on the church lawn. This is the central section, there's another the same side to the right (actually 2 half size ones) with and one half the size to the left. There were about 170 guests, we lost one to the volcano flight cancellations and two when the husband went down with food poisoning the night before following a pub meal, but most of those who had to fly in made it.

The big day has come and gone and life will never be the same again. Tomorrow will be spent down at church tidying and packing up and then it will feel like it is all over. I booked leave for most of the week (I do have to go in on Thursday for a meeting) to ensure I have plenty of time to recover.

My daughter is now on her honeymoon in Venice and will come back and move to their flat which, thankfully, is only 1.5 miles from here - close enough to be in contact but, for their sake, not too close. And so the rich circle of life goes on and we have to adjust to being only a 3 person household; in other words I have a room to re-decorate to turn into a guest room before my son turns it into a recording studio!

Wedding

Today is my daughter's wedding and by the time I got up (6:15) the friend who is doing hair and makeup for the bride, bridesmaid and bride's mother was already here and working!

So far I've had 3 mugs of tea, a bowl of fruit, croissant with cheese and ham and a glass of bucks fizz. I suppose I'd better get showered and dressed at some point.

Photos will follow.

Stress Time

In 3 days time it's my daughter's wedding. Today I am meant to A) be at church to let in the people putting up the marquee (in the garden not in the church itself) and B) be at home to accept delivery of a barrel of beer.

Just to add to the stress my daughter's car, an old Metro, stopped working on Sunday evening and so far I have failed to get it going despite fixing at least 2 things that were wrong.

On top of that I'm still editing my speech as I'm not sure it is as good as it should be.

Hopefully I will get to Saturday without having a breakdown.

Why Goodyear Left GP Racing

Earlier today I was wearing my new shoes, bought for my daughters wedding in 9 days time, around the house to roughen up the soles before the big day. They are probably the best shoes I have ever owned and I doubt if I would have bought them if they hadn't been half price!



Shiny aren't they. However trying to walk on a carpet in them is like walking on ice; there is absolutely no grip. It was only when I looked at the sole that the reason became clear:



Here is a clearer picture:



Yes, they have parts made by Goodyear who left GP racing in 1998. Now if their GP tyres had as much grip as my shoes it's no wonder they left!

Wedding

Tomorrow it will be 2 weeks to my daughter's wedding and the whole house is now descending into panicky chaos. I know this is going to be hard going for me as I have taken the decision to not go back onto anti-depressive drugs as I feel I need all my wits about me during this period. Still the way things are going I may end up looking like the sane one!

Christmas

With only a visit from my sister-in-law and family to go tomorrow I have survived Christmas. This may not seem much of achievement to most people but this year, for me, it is.

Firstly this is our last Christmas as a family; by next year my daughter will be married and celebrating Christmas with her husband. There were just the 4 of us as our usual Christmas guests, my father and my wife's aunt, both died last year so it was fairly quiet.

Secondly I developed a bad cold the weekend before Christmas which then turned into a chest infection. I'm on antibiotics and steroids and have managed most Christmas events although I missed the midnight service and going as a family to see the Wasps v Harlequins match at Twickenham today. (RATS - Quins lost so my Wasps supporting daughter is going to be insufferable)

Finally this has been an alcohol free Christmas for me but not the rest of them. At the beginning of November I had some sort of breakdown and I'm now on medication which seems to be helping but does mean I can't have any alcohol - a shame as we had some good claret from father for Christmas day and I was on non-alcoholic wine.

So I survived and now look forward to a new year with some trepidation as there are going to have to be some major changes in my life and, as yet, it isn't clear what these will be. What I do know is that God will be with me guiding me and prodding (shoving?) me in the right direction.

Wedding

Since my daughter got engaged the entire household has been rushed of its feet trying to get everything booked for next April. Despite having the best part of a years notice we have had trouble getting a venue big enough for 170 guests so will be using a marquee on the church lawn. This means we still have to get someone to do the catering but have have booked the car and photographer.

I'm hoping that once we have everything booked life will quieten down for a while.