Praise be! A holy unexpected visit

During the Seventies, i lived with my family in a nice avenue in a Buckinghamshire town at a house with the number 88. After several years in this house, number 78 came on to the market and, being larger, we bought it and moved in. The removal men said it was the first time they had moved anyone in reverse gear. Soon after our move, a family wedding was planned and people were coming from far and near. i’d married an irish woman and there were lots of aunts, uncles and cousins travelling from ireland to be accommodated. We were pressed to take in some of these visitors and, of course, we agreed. The night our guests were due to arrive was particularly dark and very windy. At about 9pm our doorbell rang and we greeted our three irish visitors. Once inside, they explained that they had been told to go to number 88. When the young woman who now lived there opened the door, she found on her doorstep, in the dim light, a priest and two nuns with their suitcases. She almost fainted. However, all turned out well and we had a good laugh later, including Mrs 88.

Joe Dunton, Bournemouth.

Follow-up

THE recent letter about a budgie reminded me about my aunt nell’s pet bird. Though she didn’t teach it to speak, she used to say to herself when she came in from shopping: ‘nell’s tired, nell’s going to make a cup of tea.’ in time, the budgie began to mimic her voice. Eventually, my aunt died. After the funeral, the family went back for sherry and fish paste sandwiches. They were sitting quietly, thinking about the day’s events, when a voice piped up: ‘nell’s tired, nell’s going to make a cup of tea.’ You can imagine the uproar. needless to say, a new home was soon found for the budgie.

Margaret Herbert, Eastbourne, E. Sussex.