There was a laden apple tree along the drive from Bury to Bath, and I sat in Auntie Sarah's trusty red Fiat, with a box of sweet peppers and orange slices balanced on one thigh and 'Faerie Queene' on the other. Suffolk was bathed in sunshine - the pond was almost white with scintillation as we drove past, and I couldn't believe York and Leeds were flooding.
About three quarters through the journey, I could believe it though, as we were stuck in rain so heavy it was difficult to see the car before us, or to judge how quickly it was going. We crawled along at a snail's pace. Quite quickly, however, the rain slackened, and we began breathing again. I never thought I would see Singapore's silver-sheet rain all the way up here, but the rain on that highway was certainly reminiscent.
Bath is gorgeous, less flat than suffolk and with flat stone walls snaking this way and that. As we drove into the city, I immediately thought someone must have named it after a Bath tub, since its houses slope up the steep slopes of a bowl-shaped valley. However, I discovered that (it seems so obvious now but) it was named after the Roman baths which still exist there, and was first called Aquae Sulis c. AD 60. Auntie Sarah and I did want to bathe in the Roman baths, and I had visions of plunging into the hot pool and then the cold pool and then being scraped like Flavia in the Roman Mystery Series. However, we discovered that the Roman Baths, though open for viewing, can't be bathed in for Health and Safety reasons. Instead, there is a spa nearby which people go to instead for a similar experience, but unless you pay extra for a massage package, it really is just swimming in a beautiful pool with a view of the city and costs quite a hefty amount.
We got to Uncle Peter's house, and gratefully tumbled out, after having been in the car for about four hours. Through the window I saw two girls screaming in excitement and rushing to the door, and when we got there - Jemima (Mima) and Tabitha (Tabsy)! The last time I saw them was probably more than 5 years ago, since we don't regularly see our Crabtree cousins, who are our second cousins. (I used to get so confused about this until I saw this very useful diagram!)
Inside, we met Auntie Carol and Uncle Bill, Mima and Tabsy's parents, Uncle Peter (Auntie Carol's Dad), Auntie Rachel (his other daughter) and her husband Keith and their children Phemie (short for Euphemia, who also plays the Euphonium!) and Robert. Uncle Peter is the husband of my grandfather's sister. Don't worry, it took me 19 years to figure it out.
We had something to eat first and then headed to the lounge to open Christmas presents. (Uncle Peter kept asking if I needed anything else - later Phemie told me that in the process of explaining to him that I am vegan they had to convince him that I am not a delicate flower that is allergic to everything ever, just that I have made a conscious decision not to eat animals and their byproducts, and henceforth they entered a deep discussion about the fundamentals of vegetarianism) I was so touched that the families had thought to get me presents, and was so glad that Auntie Sarah had bought them all something too, although she had to hastily wrap it in the discarded wrapping paper from presents already opened!
Auntie Rachel is amazing at creating things - she sewed Uncle Peter a very lovely apron which I, at first sight, was convinced was from Cath Kidston or of that ilk. She also felted a tiny little pouch for Tabsy, which had a small dog attached. Both Mima and Tabsy were breathless with excitement when it came to their presents, and whenever they opened one they sort of melted with gratitude and breathed an awestruck 'Thank you, oh, thank you' which would make any givers heart warm.
I was so amused at what Auntie Carol's family got Robert - a 'U kick', which is actually just a Chap teh!
After that, we played Categories, and the Poetry Game, and the Introduction Game, which made me cry from laughing (as did Mima). I was also just so happy to be so included. Despite not seeing them all for so long, they just let me in with such ease, and loved me as one of their own. I suppose that is what family is for, and I felt it so wonderfully warmly. (Also, it was literally very warm in that little lounge, because Uncle Peter gets cold quite easily, and puts the fire on, whilst the rest of us are just boiling. But being Uncle Peter, the oldest and therefore the one whose will is law, we let him keep his fire on, and escape to the kitchen for a glass of water when the heat gets unbearable.)
It was nearing the New Year countdown, and most of us drove to Auntie Carol's place to watch the fireworks from her balcony. The sky was incredibly clear, and I could see Orion's belt straight away, as well as numerous other stars I have no names for. It is almost unbelievable to think that God knows the names of every star, past, present, and future, and that he called each one into being, and flung them into their positions with a WORD.
The fireworks began, and we watched, open mouthed and breath steaming. when it got to 10 seconds to, we all counted down together, and then everyone hugged each other and said Happy New Year.
The next day we took a long walked up and down the sides of the 'bath tub'. It was quite muddy and Tabsy had worn patent leather mary janes, which Auntie Carol and Uncle Bill only found out to their dismay after it was too late to turn back. Tabsy was my main conversation partner, telling me about her favourite books, how hard it was for her to buy shoes especially because she hates shopping, and how she wants to be a missionary when she grows up. I was surprised to hear that, since it isn't common for an 11 year old girl to know she wants to serve God in China and North Korea. (which is where she said, with great conviction, she was to be a missionary) I asked her how she knew she wanted to be a missionary and she told me she feels God calling her to be one. That's something I hear adults say, but never a child. Perhaps as a child, without the layers of crud and cynicism that the world plasters onto you, the still small voice of God finds its way into your heart more easily. Tabsy prays for the missionaries and people of North Korea and China every night, which is something I've only started doing last year, and certainly haven't been as faithful with it as I want to be. Tabsy inspires me so much with her wisdom, childlike faith, and overflowing love for the people around her in all the far fling corners of the world. And yet, she still has her cheeky 11 year old moments, such as when we were running down a hill and she stepped into a particularly muddy puddle.
'Daddy,' she said with a wicked grin, 'I stepped in a puddle!'
Back in the house, after a wonderful christmas lunch (more crispy roast potatoes!), we went to visit Auntie Brenda, Uncle Peter's wife and my Grandad's sister. Auntie Brenda has dementia and now lives in a care home since she no longer recognises anyone, can't speak, and needs special care. She looks very soft and fluffy, in a white night gown and with her very big eyes, which occasionally quizzically look at you, and her mouth breaks into a half smile. Auntie Sarah brought her Ukelele and we sang hymns and gospel music to her, and she smiled several times (which is rare) and even laughed when Uncle Peter kissed her hand! When we left, I kissed her softly, a kiss from Grandma who was her best friend in school, and from Mum who Auntie Sarah tells me was very like her, and from me, who can't help but love her gentle, smiling, soul, no matter how age and disease has clouded it.
More games that night, including listening to Tabsy recite the who first part of 'The Lady of Shalot' (my cousins are all geniuses) and Mima recite a poem about a mad dog, complete with dramatic accompanying actions! Before we played we watched the finale of the University Challenge, which Oxford convincingly won. And before that, we had a tickle fight, with Phemie and Tabsy attacking poor Robert, while Mima and I looked on in laughter. Robert was eventually overcome and had to submit to being kissed by Tabsy (he said 'I'm fine with you kissing me, but only on the cheek!' - Tabsy was surprised to find out that neither Robert nor I kiss our siblings on the lips) Robert is such a gentleman for a fifteen year old boy, which is usually the age where silence and sullen-ness settles in. But Robert actively makes conversation (and opens conversations - miracle!), helps with washing up and setting the table, and indulges in Mima and Tabsy's affections, and still manages to remain really cool with his huaraches and hair and love for sport and french. May all fifteen year old boys learn from this.
During our round of categories, Uncle Peter had a very naughty answer. The category was 'Clothing' and the letter was 'F'. Most people said Fur wrap or Fedora or something. Uncle Peter, after laughing so hard I thought his dentures might come out, chortled out,
'French knickers'
The whole room erupted in either laughter or opposition - how are french knickers different to english knickers or singaporean knickers? But we let him have it, purely out of just how funny his answer was!
Before the games, Uncle Peter had been trying to persuade us all to use less paper and re-use paper we had used the previous night for 'economy's sake'. Uncle Bill commented how odd that the word economy means both the entire system on which our society is premised and survives, as well as 'lack'. In others words, we live in, and live off, a system of lack. There are the obvious 'lacks' - lack of food, clean water, healthcare, education. And there are the 'lacks' which even the most materially satisfied face - loneliness, bitterness, jealousy, fear. 'In heaven there will be no lack,' he said, smiling, 'God doesn't stint, he has abundance in abundance.' I suppose we lack, and have lacked, and will continue to lack, because there is a God shaped hole that will not be fulfilled completely until we meet God face to face in heaven.
'If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.' — C.S. Lewis
Since it was my last night, I bid a very sad goodbye to Tabsy and Mima, Auntie Carol and Uncle Bill as they left the house and I stayed on with Auntie Rachel's family to sleep in Uncle Peter's house. We left early the next morning, happy and full of love, and light, and cheer from the Crabtrees.
I have bought a railcard.
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