Today is the anniversary of my mum's death, and I once more find myself wanting to write about her on the day. I have been thinking about her for the last couple of weeks, and wondering what I would write about, and then I had an email from the 9yo's Brownie leader asking if I could contribute any photos or memorabilia for their project on Brownie Traditions. This led to me spending a happy hour or so looking through old photos to see what I could find. I confess to being having been somewhat disappointed that I could not find any photographic evidence of me as a Brownie, but I did find some rather lovely photos of my mum:
As a Guide, in Chelmsford in about 1959
As Brown Owl, marching in the Brownie Parade in Abu Dhabi in 1979
I was only 4 at the time, and therefore too young to be a Brownie yet, but I do remember all the preparations that my mum put into the parade, and the accompanying Thinking Day - which my brother and I were allowed to attend. We were delighted by the huge bonfire and by all the party food - although, being 4, it took a lot of persuasion for me to try one of the hot dogs that day due to my legitimate concern that they were trying to feed me actual dog meat.
And then I found this photo, in the same album, of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, when they were on their state visit to the United Arab Emirates and visited Abu Dhabi in February 1979
I don't know if the Brownie parade was organised for the Queen's benefit, but the two events loom very large in my memory. I asked my Dad and he has found a letter he wrote to his parents shortly before the state visit that mentioned both the visit and the parade but didn't specifically say that they were linked. I still remember the excitement of all the adults around me that the Queen was coming to visit the tiny state that they were living in. We stood on the road for what seemed like hours in the hot sunshine, and then saw her from a great distance, so that afterwards I wasn't really sure if I had actually seen her or not, and wondered what all the fuss was about. So it was rather lovely to find this photo and see just how close to the Queen and Prince Philip we were that day.
The 9yo was delighted to see these photos of my mum, and really proud to take them to Brownies to show everyone that her Grandma was both a Guide and a Brown Owl. And it makes me happy to know that in this way my mum really does live on, both through me and through my children.
Previous anniversary blogs:
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