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PETER’S MEMOIRS 3: “OUR BERNIE” (PART 15)
(Continued from previous posts.)
I like to think that there was more to it than just a change to more convenient sleeping arrangements – although Bernie will persist in telling people that we only got married so that she wouldn’t have to keep the sheets on the spare bed laundered! However, one thing that we never allowed ourselves to suppose was that Bernie could ever replace Angie – or I Richard.
I remember talking about that with Jonah. It was Angie’s birthday and only few months after Jonah’s own wife, Margaret, died. You can read about it in AWAYDAY, if you like.
‘Bernie tells me you’ve got a Skype session with Eddie organised for tomorrow afternoon,’ Jonah said, making conversation. ‘Do you have something special to talk about?’
‘It’s Angie’s birthday.’
‘I’m sorry. I didn’t know.’
‘Of course not. Why should you?’
‘Our Bernie keeps telling me I’m part of the family, so I feel I ought to know about that sort of thing.’
More silence.
‘Peter?’
‘Mmm?’
‘If you don’t mind me asking, how long does it take to really sink in? I mean how long was it before you kept expecting her to walk in the door any minute?’
‘I’m sorry, I can’t answer that. A long time – more than eleven years; that’s all I can tell you.’
‘Ah!’ Jonah nodded. He knew full well that Angie had died a little over eleven years ago.
‘And that’s another reason why I’m so pleased to have you here to keep Bernie and Lucy amused. I know that if Angie did ever walk in the door, I’d walk out with her and leave them both behind without a thought. It does get better over time,’, ‘but it never really goes away.’
‘That’s what Our Bernie said too.’
‘But then, you wouldn’t want to forget, would you?’
‘No … I suppose we’re the lucky ones, really. I mean, staying together till death us do part. We’ve never had someone walk out on us, like so many people these days.’
There are 5 full-length novels available as e-books from Amazon or Kobo. You can also download these memoirs as short stories from the Kobo Store: https://store.kobobooks.com/search?Query=%22DI+Peter+Johns%22