The evening before yesterday was a sad occasion but one which I was anticipating. One of the parishioners at the church that I attend each Saturday evening was what might best be described as ‘cheeky chappie’ Irishman. He always had an irrepressible sense of humour and was invariably cheerful even he was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus some 15 months ago. His doctors had given him only three months to live but he had such a hold on life that he refused to die, as it were. He was connected with a great many church activities and was often called upon to read, in a delightful soft, Irish brogue, some of the readings which form part of the service. Last Christmas, when I was in the Waitrose café with Meg and my University of Birmingham friend, he joined us and insisted that we all wear some Christmas hats which he just happened to have about his person and then he photographed us all and sent me the photo. I last saw him about two weeks when the disease had evidently progressed and he was being treated with morphine. Nonetheless, he had somewhere managed to get to church although he admitted it had been the most tremendous struggle for him and I joked with him and gave him a big hug. He had particularly wanted to be there to greet the newly installed young priest who was due to give his first service. It was no surprise that I learned a week later that he had a stroke and was then in the local hospital. We learned that he had died the day before the service, having been visited by the priest and some local Irish friends on his wedding anniversary. His widow attended church and she was evidently in a tearful state but was consoled by all of the other parishioners who evidently knew the couple particularly well. I hugged and embraced his widow, bursting into tears myself both or the memory of our departed friend but also because the event of Meg’s recent death is still in my memory. I am hoping that he has a huge funeral service because I will certainly drop all of my other commitments in order to attend it. When a long-anticipated death occurs it is conventional to say that that he ‘is in a better place’ but he was such an inspiring figure that I will never forget him. He was a man of such deep faith that I imagine that dying had no fears for him whatsoever as he knew that he would soon be in the presence of his Creator.
Sky News is reporting today that Russia has launched a massive drone attack on Ukraine’s capital this morning, killing three people and injuring about 10, Kyiv’s military administration has said. Poland closed the airspace near two of its southeastern cities, Lublin and Rzeszow, as its air force scrambled jets in response to Russia’s attack on Kyiv. Drones flew over Kyiv and anti-aircraft fire rang out through the night in what independent monitors said was one of the biggest strikes on the city since the Ukraine war began in February 2022. The attack started at around 6am local time and many regions across the country are under air raid alert. Some residents have fled to metro stations deep underground for safety as the attack continues. Poland closed its airspace near the two cities until at least 4am GMT due to ‘unplanned military activity related to ensuring state security’, flight tracking service Flightradar24 said.
As I walked down into town today to collect my Sunday newspaper, I encountered an acquaintance who I know quite well down the road who is in the business of selling her house. She thought that she had it sold at one time and then the entire sale fell through as sometimes happens and now the entire market slows down as the year advances. I always think that people have the notion of wanting to be in a new house by Christmas time and this means that getting a house sold by October is probably the right time scale to enable all of the searches and legal work to be done. So, our friend was a little pessimistic that her house could be sold this year unless, of course, the previous buyer who had dropped out comes back for a second bite of the cherry. This makes a total of four people who I know quite well who are selling and moving away, all for quite understandable reasons, but it also means that my circle of friends will slowly diminish unless I make efforts to cultivate new relationships. We were joined in our conversation with my Irish friend and these conversations are always very welcome to me but there is a slight downside. This is that when I have been standing for long periods, my knees lock up a little from the inactivity so it is always good to keep on the move again. After I had my cup of coffee in Waitrose, I walked back up the hill and then gathered some books tother for my Droitwich friend to read as holiday reading before her flight on Wednesday, We had arranged that I call round in the middle of the day but this extended until most of the afternoon as my friend very kindly prepared some tasty morsels of food to help me to keep the wolf from the door. Then upon my return home, I arranged to have a WhatsApp chat later on in the evening with one of my University of Winchester friends who I last saw on the occasion of Meg’s funeral when he made the journey up from Hampshire.
The Labour party conference ia starting in the forthcoming week and this might prove to be quite a rancorous affair. The boss of Unite, Labour’s biggest union funder, has threatened to break its link with the party unless it changes direction. Sharon Graham, general secretary of the union, told Sky News that, on the eve of a crucial party conference for the prime minister, Unite’s support for Labour was hanging in the balance. She told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: ‘My members, whether it is public sector workers all the way through to defence, are asking, What is happening here?’ Of course, one is never surprised to see dissension in the Labour Party but it looks as Andy Burnham is building up a sufficient head of steam to mount a leadership challenge. I remember the comment attributed to one of Napoleon’s generals that ‘I will always be absolutely loyal to my emperor – until the time is right for treachery!’