Signs that come out of the blue ...
FURThER to alan Randall’s letter about a London busker playing, unbidden, his late mother’s favourite tune, I had a similar experience. Five years ago, my wife and I were also in London, to visit our son and daughter-in-law. On our way to meet them, we waited for a bus outside a hotel in Bloomsbury which I recognised as a place I’d stayed in 60 years earlier. My Gram had been due to go on a coach trip from Bradford with her sister-in-law but they had an argument and auntie Lynn pulled out. The family nominated me as substitute. Being only 13, I was less than eager to join a coachload of pensioners but was persuaded by the offer of a bit of time out on my own to train-spot at a couple of London stations. Besides, Gram and I were pretty good pals. as it turned out, I had a great time. The pensioners were fun. Gram had organised a splendid itinerary which included the British Museum, the Crazy Gang show at the Victoria Palace and a live broadcast of the Winifred atwell Show from the BBC studios. Gram was a fan of Winnie’s, as a keen pianist herself (pub-style, self-taught). One of my fondest memories is of her sitting at the upright piano in our front room, bashing out You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Wanna Do It, I Didn’t Wanna Do It), which she sang in a tuneful but by then rather reedy voice. That old tune was running through my mind as we caught the bus to meet our relatives, who took us to lunch in Canary
Wharf, at a cabaret-restaurant with a jazz band. You can guess what tune they played: You Made Me Love You!
MIKE PRIEStlEY, Bradford, W. Yorks. aLaN RaNDaLL’S letter reminded me of something odd I experienced. almost two years ago, our only child died suddenly. Then last year, I was about to cut some wood when two white feathers came floating down beside me. I looked up and there wasn’t a thing in the sky. My wife saw the feathers, too.
Then, just before Christmas, we visited a garden centre to get a holly wreath for our son’s grave. as we were leaving the car park, a white feather came floating down and landed on the car windscreen.
KEIth JOhnSOn, Southampton. FURThER to letters about God’s presence and the afterlife, I had two dogs that were devoted to each other. Sadly, one passed away and the other went blind. however, he happily went on their usual walk.
One day, for no explicable reason, he stopped, stood on his back legs and ‘looked’ into the clouds. It’s something I will never forget.