Back to Blog
The happiest days of my life7/13/2023 But I had been to church all my life with no gaps for teenage rebellion – those years passed me by. I hadn’t read any theology and barely done RE at school. So that is how I ended up in the Calder Valley for three years. I had thought that the Cambridge Federation would expose my little Anglo-Catholic self to something of the wider church but when I experienced that I knew that, at that stage, I needed something more solidly catholic. I had a miserable few days there but I think that was because the previous weekend I had been to the College of the Resurrection and had had a ball. I went on a visit to Ripon College, Cuddesdon, which I thought seemed lovely but there was something not quite right for me, and I looked at Westcott. I looked at two other colleges before accepting a place there. It is 40 years this year since I arrived at the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield. They have specific problems and I am keeping them in my prayers but there is the wider issue the church has to face about the fate of residential training. Flicking through this week’s Church Times there are a number of articles about the problems being faced by Westcott House in Cambridge. This one is all to do with training for priesthood. The Church of England is facing a crisis, another crisis. It’s a film similar to the St Trinian series, set in an out of control Public School, and stars Alastair Sim and Margaret Rutherford and is completely devoid of violence, horror, blood or suspense. But one of my favourite films is the 1950’s classic, ‘The Happiest Days of Your Life’. And I have watched ‘The Two Popes’ – I thought that was great – honest, moving, heart-warming (never I thought I’d say that about watching anything to do with the contemporary church!). While I was staying with her and her family after Christmas they made me watch ‘The Hunt for the Wilderpeople’. I do, however, trust my sister’s choice of films. I like what I like and I know what I don’t like – violence, horror, blood, suspense, things like that. I often make the ridiculous statement ‘I can only watch a film I’ve seen before.’ People, rightly, look at me with incredulity. I still remember that day as one of the happiest days of my life.I have a strange relationship with films and those who know me well would agree with that. It was a girl, she was sleeping, she was my sister. Right next to my mother I saw the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. A tear fell of my eye, but I was not in pain. When we walked in the room, as soon as my father told us to open our eyes I saw my mother lying on the bed. We walked down the hall with our eyes closed. We walked out of the elevator and my dad told my brother and I close our eyes and hold his hands. 9th floor, I still have that clear image in my head. “What good things happen in hospital?” We walked in the elevator. He noticed that I was worried right away and with a smile on his face told us he had a surprise for us. He opened the door and I jumped out of the car and hugged him. The car stopped right in front of my dad. I looked at my brother he was looking out the other window. As soon as he recognized the white van, he threw the cigarette away. Seeing my father smoking made me more worried. I saw my dad on the phone waiting for us at the entrance. To be honest, I was really scared too, probably more than he was. I immediately notice the fear in brother’s eyes. As soon as my brother and I found about the change in plans, we looked at each other in the eyes. We were going to meet him and my mum there. When I was in the car with my brother my dad called the driver and told him to take us to the hospital. Our driver would take us back home were my father was. I was told to find my brother as soon as possible, walk with him to the school picking up zone and get in the car with my brother. She told me not ask any questions, just to follow her instructions closely. I answered the phone, my father sounded worried. He would want me to focus in school and do well. He would not call me in the middle of a school day just to talk. As soon as I saw my father’s name on that screen I realized something was not right. I took it out and looked at the shiny screen. I was walking to the chemistry rooms when my phone in my left pocket vibrated. I had prepared well the day before with a really good friend of mine. I took the math test and did pretty well at it. Those first two forty five minute math periods made the morning go by too slow for me. I got to school on time, even though my brother came out of the house late as he used to. It left me with twenty five more minutes to get dressed, have breakfast, brush my teeth, say good bye to my mother and get in the car no later than 7:05. I woke up earlier than my brother as every other day of the week.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |