074 - Chapter 74

(Illustration: Gran Bess with the two new additions to our family)

Daniel was the first of the two new babies to appear, in March weighing 7lb 9 oz; followed by Jake in April weighing 9lb 6oz.

We visited Peter and Amanda’s house, early one evening, the week before Daniel was born, to see his little bedroom, all beautifully prepared for his arrival. Peter pointed out a fox to us, outside of the window, which was foraging around in the twilight, and that put a sentence into my mind for a song for a lullaby for Daniel.

 ‘I’ll show you foxes in the twilight . . . 

And over the next few weeks I began working on more lyrics. What grew in my mind was the idea of a father whispering to his new-born son, all the fascinating things he would show him as he grew, and since Peter, out of all my three, spoke with a Geordie accent, it came to be known as the Geordie Lullaby (see below)

Geordie Lullaby: A Song for Daniel

A’ll show you foxes in the twilight

 and sparrow hawks at play

And twinkling stars and moonbeams

 that vanish come the day.

We’ll look out for a rainbow,

 for flowers and butterflies,

And bring a whole new world of colour

 to your eyes.

Aa’ know just the place to see a stag, 

up by the Rising Sun

With hides to spy on swans and coots; 

and days of summer fun

We’ll walk down to the dockyards, 

see ships sail on the Tyne,

And blow some dandelion parachutes,

 to help us tell the time.

We’ll make a snowman or an igloo,

 when feathery snow falls deep,

And then we could go sledging,

 up by the old pit heap.

When you tire of snow angels,

 or your fingers get too numb,

Then I will put you on my shoulders,

 and carry you back home

We could go down to Cullercoats, 

explore the caves and pools,

Play football on the Long Sands, 

teach you the offside rule.

Put monkey’s blood on ice cream, 

and we’ll buy some candy floss,

And keep a careful eye on you, 

Aa’ wouldn’t want you to get lost.

And when I teach you wrestling,

 Aa’ll sometimes let you win,

When you put me in a headlock, 

Aa’ll shout out “Aa give in!”

But all these are our future, 

and your life has just begun,

So let’s enjoy each single minute,

 our precious little son

So let’s enjoy each single minute, 

Daniel our son.

(Hum:  Hush Little Baby)

‘ Mammy says we are her favourite boys in town!’ was the final line

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8SzMgxzChY

When Peter phoned us to announce their son had arrived, he was laughing and crying at the same time. Daniel was their first child and a really cute little bundle. I remember his little sneeze the first day we saw him in his cot in hospital, which can be seen at the close of his video.

When Daniel was about a month old, Katie, then 5 years old, sang ‘Twinkle Twinkle’ little star to him. As she gazed into his eyes and sang, he turned his head and looked full at her. It was only when she stopped singing, that he turned his head away. That was a lovely moment.

Some months later, we helped Amanda wean Daniel off the breast,( just as Margery had done for Sarah with Leah,) we did this through cuddles, singing and ‘distraction tactics’ at our house on an overnight stay. Bob and I were successful too! A cot had been a permanent fixture in our home at number 5 Kings Road for some years, right from our first grandchild being born, and now it had been put to use again.

Amanda enrolled Daniel for a baby clothing fashion shoot when he was only nine months old, so he was a fashion model for a short while.

He was very quick to crawl and walk, very strong and well-coordinated; a little slow forming his words at first with ‘eh oh’ for hello, and ‘ook’ for Luke. He always had such a love for music and he was drawn to the piano too. The very first time he crawled up on to the stool, his cousin Luke pressed the auto button, and when Daniel pressed a key, the tune played automatically and his face lit up fascinated, because he really thought he was playing that pre-recorded music.

I used to take him to a nursery class not far away in Longbenton, and I remember Daniel sitting on a special Christmas chair, as the nursery teachers waited for Santa to arrive. The minute the door opened, and Daniel spotted Santa shouting “Ho Ho Ho”, he cried out in terror and it took a while for him to be consoled. Those who ran the nursery invited me to sing each week for the children with my guitar, and Daniel soon wanted to do the same, and would take his little tennis racquet along to play ‘guitar’ with me. One week, he wouldn’t let me sing; he put his hand over my mouth and he sang the songs instead of me. He was almost three then.

He loved to lead our prayers at table too when he was very young, and one evening when he was dressed up in a ninja suit, he pretended to be Roger our vicar, and Bob, Gran Bess and I had to sit on the settee and listen attentively while he led worship. Daniel said cute little prayers for his granda Steve’s recently departed cat Dooley, and then he ended with a profound blessing over the three of us, which went like this:

“God will look after you when you die!”

Daniel was chosen as one of the three kings once, and told us he would be carrying Frankenstein!. He also had a lovely singing voice, he still has, and later was asked to sing solos at school at Christmas. 

He has always been kind, sensitive, and thoughtful and has always got on so well with his friends and cousins.

Each single time we got into the car with Daniel at this stage, I would have to make up a brand-new story as we journeyed along! And he once said to me when he was little, “I love hanging out with you Grandma!”

Oh how to make a woman happy!

He’s now such a fine lad, almost the same height as me now, and doing well at school, and he loves being goalkeeper for his club team. His fitness, agility and physique mean he can only get better as he grows older and stronger. Daniel was awarded the honour of 'Best in PE' in year 7 at his High School last year. He also does kick boxing, and is very good at it, but he would never hurt a fly!

Daniel is such a loving child, and never leaves our home, without he and his younger brother Jack, shouting out from the car window to Bob and me, ‘Love you!”

Jake was born almost a month after Daniel was born. Bob and I had travelled down to Maidenhead just before Jake’s birth, as Sarah had been having contractions. We made it just in time.

My sister Joan and I, had been preparing for mam’s move out of her bedsit to one with a cooler lounge and a separate bedroom, still in Osborne House itself; so when we got the call that Sarah’s baby was on the way, Joan and Alan offered to tackle mam’s moving day themselves without us. They were real stars, but we couldn’t afford to wait, neither it seems could Jake.

He was born at 5.35 a.m. weighing 9lb 6 oz, Sarah and Alan’s second child: and he was a beautiful, blond haired, bright blue-eyed baby, a real sweetie. We took Leah into hospital the day he was born, and Alan came out to collect us, and Leah was shown in first to see her new brother. She adored him, but she wasn’t too keen on the contents of his nappy.

Sarah explained, He’s a tinker!”

Leah replied, “No, mammy he’s cute!”

Leah handled the whole situation really well, having been the only child so far and having mammy and daddy all to herself, so now she had to share parent time with him. But Jake ‘wisely’ brought a special gift with him on arrival; a climbing frame and swing for Leah. She was delighted with these, but most of all with her new baby brother, and she became a little mother to him.

Right from the start, he was an adventurous child, a little explorer, full of curiosity, and always getting into some kind of mischief, like the time he put teeth from a plastic skull under his pillow to fool the tooth fairy. Or when the teacher at nursery asked him for a third time to go and get his coat at home time, he looked up and said to her,” You’re interrupting me when I’m trying to concentrate on my reading!” At the time he was only two and a half years old. He also made-up stories to cover a crime; such as the ant he saw scurrying across the floor which went right into mammy’s handbag and ate up all the chocolate in there. It wasn’t him!

One of his favourite toys was the water hose in the garden, he loved water, he loved swimming, and he was always making things, doing puzzles, constructing Lego and Magneto or digging up garden mud to make a pot. He was great at telling stories, right off the top of his head, and he only had to hear a difficult word once, and he would repeat it perfectly and be able to use it in conversation. He was a little genius in many different ways.

The idea for the song I wrote for him, came from Bob’s visit to hear Vin Garbutt, a local folk singer, who introduced one of his songs by mentioning the opening of a pocket of love for each new grandchild, so this is where the inspiration came from, for this new song.

Another Pocket of Love

('God’s almighty oak trees from little acorns grow': Old English proverb)

You wonder about the wonder, 

of the miracle of life;

How a gift so very precious

 comes to husband and to wife,

And as the years fly by you,

 full of memories’ golden songs

Your children start their families,

 and the miracle goes on.

Let me tell you each announcement

 of new life brings such joy

It’ll never ever matter,

 if it’s a girl or it’s a boy.

Each one has their own character, 

brings uniqueness to the world

And the very term ‘grandparents'

 is the very best of words.

CHORUS:

But when your joints all creak,

you’re feelin’ past your peak

And your memory’s not so strong,

You wonder will there be sufficient love

when the next one comes along

But the solution’s very simple,

as simple as can be,

You just open up your love coat,

With its many, many pockets,

You just open another pocket of love!

You just open another pocket of love!

Jake Matthew is our fifth one,

 and as cute as cute can be,

But there’s a worried look in those big blue eyes

as to what our answer will be.

But don’t you worry little Jake, 

it’s plain for all to see

We’ll just open another pocket of love

He’s become our little treasure,

 and that’s how it should be

He’s loved as much as grandchild one,

 two four and three,

Such potential in a bundle,

 what will he turn out to be?

Lord let this little acorn,

 become a fine oak tree!

Repeat chorus:

Go tell it on the mountains,

 over the hills and everywhere

Go tell it on the mountains,

that a very special baby’s been born.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TbAt1o9Yf4

I cherish this lovely photo of my mam in the illustration, with her two new great-grandsons, one in each arm, in her new flat! Another grandchild had also been born into Joan’s family a girl, Eilidh Elizabeth, so that made a total of eight great-grandchildren for mam.

Daniel and Jake are still good friends to this day. They even play computer games at a distance with each other. I recall one occasion, when they were both almost six years old, Sarah arrived with her family, and Peter’s family arrived soon after. Daniel ran in to see Jake who was sitting waiting for him at the top of our stairs. And Daniel shouted out, “My cousin, my cousin!” Jake yelled back, “ My buddy! My buddy!” and they ran and hugged each other.

Mind you it wasn’t always that peaceful when they were young!

He was only about four years old, when we realised Jake’s passion for construction, or should I say de-construction, when at school he dismantled the thermostat from the class radiator. I think he may have taken it home with him, but he was made to own up the next day. The school really had no need for a heating engineer. They had him!

If I had to sum Jake up today, I would probably say that he’s going to become the next Alan Sugar! He’s a little genius, darting from one interesting activity to another, and whose efforts with 3D printing of his plastic models of dragons, worms and other creatures have proved quite a profitable business at school fairs. He has also worked exceptionally hard to overcome his struggles with dyslexia, thus following on from a long list of people who have surmounted such problems and have benefitted the world, which include the likes of Albert Einstein, Keira Knightly, Robin Williams, Pablo Picasso and also Richard Branson, who once said.

“It is time we lost the stigma around dyslexia, It is not a disadvantage; it is merely a different way of thinking”.

He went on to say, “Once freed from archaic schooling practices and preconceptions, my mind opened up. Out in the real world, my dyslexia became my massive advantage: it helped me to think creatively and laterally, and see solutions where others saw problems!”

Branson wants to ensure schools today have the knowledge, tools and interventions needed to “not only… identify dyslexia, but also the support necessary to champion dyslexics and enable them to thrive.”

I once explained to Jake about the dovetail joints which my dad could do as a skilled joiner, and in no time at all he came back with such a joint made in cardboard! I hadn’t even asked him to do it.

We had a little home communion one Sunday, instead of going to their church, where I told him I needed crumpled paper prayers 'catapulted in' and he took one of his Meccano toys and presented to me a mechanical paper thrower within minutes!

His latest interest is angling! I feel sorry for the poor pikes, carps and roaches in the Thames, who don’t know yet what little tricks he’s going to be coming up with in order to improve his catch!

But how might our schools respond though to the challenge put out by Richard Branson to “champion dyslexics and enable them to thrive.”?

Jake’s birth wasn’t the only exciting event in April of 2011. On the 29th Prince William married Kate Middleton, what a superb day, celebrating the happiness of this wonderful couple. They looked like such a happy and handsome couple. The whole country went wild celebrating.

It’s always been a privilege and a joy, as a priest, to baptise ‘the faithful’, but even more so when it is your grandchildren. I had already baptised Leah and recently Daniel, and that following year in February 2012, it was Jake’s turn, and our whole family travelled down to Maidenhead.

All this coincided with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, and while we were down there, we went to a large street party in Cookham, which is one of the prettiest villages in the UK.

Everywhere we looked, people were dressed in red, white and blue, ourselves included. Even faces were painted in these colours. There were open stalls and street entertainers, and the shop fronts were decorated beautifully. Had Jake been a little older, he might have thought all this celebrating was to do with his baptism? His granda Bob certainly had that impression when he was little with all the fireworks surrounding the Trafalgar celebrations at Collingwood’s monument in Tynemouth on his birthday!