The young, the old and the in-between.

Edward is filling out even before my eyes. The health visitor called today to weigh and measure him, the baton has been passed on now from the midwives. He has put on 13 ounces since birth.
It is an irony that I am only able to have this quality of time with Edward and Holly because I live in Canada. If I lived here, I would be at work all week, maybe come round on a Sunday afternoon for tea. Which is nice, especially in the summer, but this, this is wonderful. I have spent all morning just looking at the CBeebies website with Holly, helping her eat her breakfast and then her lunch, play with her toys with her. Yesterday we went to the sea. Holly walked up the slope by Southsea Castle, peered at lichen on stones and toddled around.

Yesterday afternoon I went into the school I used to work at. I needed to take a bus, although I could have walked it, it would have taken me about 50 minutes, I walk slowly. At the bus stop a lady started talking to me about her family in Australia, about how she was going to visit her sister there and her guilt at leaving her mother in a nursing home. But she had looked after her mother who now had Alzheimers in her own home for nine years. I gave her the absolution that only a complete stranger at a bus stop can give.
When I recounted this to Austen I said how Pompey I thought it was. He thought it wasn't, that it was just me. Maybe he's right. Years of travelling across the Atlantic have given me a great appreciation of the stories of strangers, particularly senior women who have wonderful experiences to share about their families and friends and travels.

I entered school cautiously, and was welcomed warmly. I enjoyed seeing all the support staff and former colleagues. I had gone in specifically to see my last year's year 10 German class. This was my dream class. For the first time in my entire teaching career, languages had been made optional for key Stage 4, so those who chose to do one really wanted to do it. I made the decision to divide those who had chosen German into boys and girls instead of setting by ability, and this turned out very well. I took the girls the first term, boys the second, then the girls the third while Dean had the other class. We worked them so hard and they were so enthusiastic, it made both of us remember what teaching was supposed to be about. It was a class we both looked forward to.
Both classes are now being taught in a different pattern. As I went in, I got hugged a lot - just from the girls of course - it was GREAT to see them again. Some things don't change. Leo came in late, just sauntered into the classroom. His teacher asked him why he was late. He mumbled something, but he was standing in front of me with his back to me.
'Why are you stoned Leo?' I asked. He jumped and turned to look at me. His mouth dropped open and everyone roared with laughter. He went and sat down but I could see his head kept popping up, checking if I was really there. He took a picture of me on his phone.
It was nice to be there without having to do the discipline thing. There is a lot of warmth, but there can also be a lot of aggro. The right people asked me to please come back. The other right people did a double take and muttered, 'Shit, is SHE back?'

This evening I am going to visit my friends Karen and Steve in Lee-on-the-Solent. I will take the little ferry across the water and Karen will pick me up from Gosport. Karen and I have been friends since we were five years old so we share a lot of memories. Karen often worries that she isn't remembering things the way she used to, but the truth is that she has a much better memory than me and often tells me things that I have forgotten.
When I was on THAT flight on the way over, sitting behind me was the brother of the vicar of Lee-on-the-Solent. This was quite a coincidence since I knew I would be going there. Sitting beside him was a lady who was going to Norwich the following day and offered me a lift. It was too early in the trip at that point, however had I known about my sister's news then, I might have considered it.

Being in-between is nice, you get to enjoy young and old. Mostly I have to borrow other people's old though since my own have all gone. It is odd when you realise that because you realise at the same time that there is no generation to buffer you. No elders to pass on their wisdom for you to ignore. It's like standing on a cliff edge with the wind whistling around your bum.