Day Twelve
Remembrance Day in London has turned out to be a huge, spectacular event. And with good reason. It’s nice to be in a country that supports and celebrates its veterans in this way. I’m finding that this year has had special significance for me, in light of the wars we’re currently fighting (and in light of the new Naomi Klein book that I’m halfway through). It’s so tragic. But no matter why we’re involved in these wars or how strongly we might disagree, I think it’s so important to separate our support for the war from our support for our troops. Geoff and I missed the big ceremony with the Queen at the Cenetaph this morning, but we’re hoping to stop by there and the Field of Remembrance outside Westminster Abbey before we leave town.We bought poppies yesterday, and they are so strange – different than at home. They’re made out of paper! Seems a little bit ridiculous in rainy London, but whatever.
This morning, we boarded a train to Marden, in the county of Kent, to visit Geoff’s family. We were picked up at the station by his uncle Ron and aunt Lal, then went to meet his cousin Chris, his wife Rosemary, and their boys Daniel (17) and Tom (15). We had tea with everyone at Chris and Rosemary’s house – a 300 year old cottage – then went for lunch with Ron and Lal in this great little restaurant overlooking the countryside with all the leaves changing colours. Beautiful. Right now, we’re in the town of Tenterden, at Ron and Lal’s house – in an hour or two, they’ll be returning us to the train station.
It’s been so very cool to connect with Geoff’s family like this. He hasn’t seen any of them since he was in junior high, so it’s been kind of like meeting strangers for him too. But they’ve made us feel right at home and we were instantly comfortable with all of them. His aunt can't get over how much Geoff resembles his dad :)
We visited a little shop with Ron and Lal this afternoon and we bought a beautiful Christmas ornament to mark this occasion, so we’ll have a little piece of his family at home with us every Christmas.
Labels: Family, London, My Life, The Boy, Travel
posted by Lindsay @ 10:46 AM
4 Comments:
awww, how totally cool about the Christmas ornament. good thinking!
So great that you could visit the 'family'. Did you know that we spent part of our honeymoon also in London? It was the first time I had met any of Alan's family.
man Lindsay, your trip sounds perfect.
We miss you Linds! Glad you and your husband are having such a great time!
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