3.11 Godparents
PETER’S MEMOIRS 3: “OUR BERNIE” (PART 11)
Bernie asked Angie and me to be Lucy’s godparents. Of course, we were delighted to agree, and that marked the beginning of one of the most fulfilling relationships in my life. I have to admit to being extremely fond of Lucy – something that started almost from the very beginning. I feel a bit guilty that I somehow managed to find more time for her than I ever had for my own two kids. I suppose that by the time Lucy came on the scene I was settled in my career – or rather I’d given up any idea of progressing further than I’d already come and was content to leave striving to get oneself noticed by the hierarchy to more ambitious, younger officers. Maybe I was also more confident in my own abilities and so didn’t feel the need to justify my existence by putting in excessive hours – or maybe I realised that I was not indispensable and was more willing to delegate.
Though I say it myself, it wasn’t long before Lucy started making it plain that I was her favourite human being – apart from her mother, of course! Angie used to joke that Lucy was starting to displace her in my affections and to refer to her as my “other woman”!
Angie and Bernie, of course, were still the best of friends and Angie was like a second mother to Bernie. Eddie also took a great deal of interest in Lucy and became something between a big brother and a favourite uncle. Eddie continued with his preparation for university and, in due course, with Bernie’s help, he went off to study Computer Science at Manchester – which Our Bernie told us was the best place in the country, not even excepting Oxbridge. Everything seemed to be going along very nicely, until a few weeks before Angie and I were due to celebrate our silver wedding.
But that’s another story and will have to wait for another chapter.