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Hello! This is the Hawkers’ attic writing. Debbie and Dave couldn’t think what to write this year so they left it to me. I’m not really Dave’s second home, as Jamie claims, but the others and especially Dave come to see me fairly often. Anyway I have quite a good overview of what they’ve been doing.
For me, this has been a year of extreme weather – hot, cold, windy & rainy – the kind of weather Jamie doesn’t like. I’ve also felt quite full. In April Dave and his sister finally sold the home they grew up in. Dave asked me to look after some of its former contents that he hadn’t been able to foist on to other people – and some of it’s still here! Plus he’s having me look after the remaining earthly junk of not just his Mum and Dad but at least 12 (yes, twelve) of his deceased relatives while he sorts through them. I’m told that this family of hoarders got rid of a lot of stuff before it reached me, but it doesn’t feel like it. I hope my joists are strong enough!
Endings, disposals, dead people. What more could you want as Christmas approaches? Lets carry on. Dave also got closure with his Mum's former care home, gave up pretending to keep an allotment, and might even stop bothering so much about ethical shopping. Debbie made arrangements to donate her body to medical science. As if that’s not enough loss, in August InterHealth unexpectedly died. I didn’t know InterHealth personally, but it was a travel medicine health clinic supporting mission and aid workers. Debbie had been involved with it for over 20 years, Dave for 10. Its closure has changed their work and has been hard for lots of charities and individuals. People are now moving on in new ways, and D&D are grateful for friends, and virtual attics, who have been very supportive during this time.
Well, they had to get away from all that. I’m pleased to say they made it to Disneyland, Paris in February, though they’ll have to learn to take better selfies. Jamie even trained as a Jedi. It’s a small world after all. Back to death: trying to connect those 12 relatives into a family history narrative, Dave took Jamie round more graveyards than beaches in Wales, while Debbie was teaching. They enjoyed visiting family and friends in Scotland and elsewhere, and running a retreat for two families at Penhurst. Debbie spoke at the South Pacific Member Care conference in Australia, being welcomed with a Maori haka and a Scottish theme day. Jamie’s most adventurous trip was a 5 day school residential visit to the Doncaster area, where he took part in many outdoor activities including abseiling and the “leap of faith”. Mum and Dad looked out for photos on the school website each day to see whether he had changed his clothes.
It wasn’t Jamie’s only new experience. He also enjoyed completing a junior triathlon and became a sixer at Cubs. He took his parents round five secondary schools to decide which to apply for. Rave reviews: tasty school lunch samples, croissants and pain au chocolat in the French classroom, bubble mixtures bursting into flames, trampolines, Harry Potter style sweets (fizzing whizbees), a teacher dressed as Professor Snape, number quizzes with sweets as prizes. Lots to look forward to in secondary school: clearly a prize for completing the dreadful Year 6.
But mostly, when not looking at the weather forecast, Jamie likes Minecraft, in which he’s built a large house for refugees, though without an attic. Debbie has taken up light dancing whenever she hears music, and Dave likes going to bring and share meals wearing his Greenbelt t-shirt, sloganed, ‘Bring less – enjoy more’. If only he paid attention to it himself!
That’s enough fun. Now back to threat and danger. In one 24 hour period recently two gas leaks were discovered in the house below me; Jamie went to a club evening where three of the boys were burnt by the campfire; there was a mysterious phone-call at 1.30am; and Debbie reported a suspicious unattended bag left on a train in London.
After all of that, I am personally looking forward to a peaceful Christmas. But with so many people having to abandon their possessions instead of storing them in an attic, I hope you have a daring, revolutionary, and hopeful Christmas. Here’s a message for Christmas last year which seems even more relevant this year. Either way, may you have peace and abundant life in 2018. And less in your attic.
Debbie, Dave, and Jamie send you their very best wishes for Christmas and 2018, and whatever else you're celebrating. You are welcome to use their contact form, or email them, to reply.
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