A wedding, a funeral and walking for Friends of Kent Churches

IT HAS been yet another weekend without politics, or sin política as the Spanish would say (if my D-grade exam mess-up teaches me correctly).

For now is the first time since Saturday morning I have managed to even grab hold of a computer, let alone blog. And as for canvassing – chance would be a fine thing!

Why? Well, yesterday (Saturday) my presence was required at a family wedding. And although I say required as though I didn’t want to be there, nothing could be further from the truth.

For I had been longing for this day with great anticipation – ever since my Auntie got engaged to Mr Edward Patterson so long ago – and with slight sadness that it clashed with what would have been my second day of work with Gillingham Football Club (although I do, of course, know my priorities, unlike some other people I had been hearing of who should also have been at close family events yesterday…)!

That now makes it two down, one to go. I have obviously referenced this before, but what are you on about you crazy man, you may think. Well, now I can explain in full.

Last Friday (August 24) we received word that retired Flying Officer Dennis Osborne, someone whom had been heavily involved with 1039 Squadron ATC in recent years and was partly responsible for the re-opening of the squadron post-war, had sadly passed away, and that his family had requested a small uniformed presence at his funeral on Monday September 3.

My father naturally obliged, and so I will be one of three Cadets present, meaning that in the space of nine days I will have been present at a christening, a wedding and a funeral, two of which will have taken place at Brompton Garrison Church (the wedding slightly humbler in my Auntie’s home of Luton, Chatham).

So that occupied me from 13:00 until roughly 00:30 this morning when I finally hit the hay – only to be woken up again at 09:00 for today’s activities.

I use the plural form of the noun, although I had only started off with the good intention of there being just the one activity – the family service at St Mark’s Church. However, by the time I had left the Church, I had not only accepted an invitation to go to a friend’s house straight after (meaning I got to meet his brother’s new Sea Cadet (pfft!) girlfriend, but the less said about that encounter the better!), but I had also signed up to take part in the Friends of Kent Churches Sponsored Ride and Walk.

The trouble was, when I put my name down as a walker, mine was the only name on the list (just below the six cyclists). So, never one to be content with going it alone, I managed to cajole my friend to join me on what we had decided would be a lovely walk through Gillingham and Rainham, visiting all participating Churches. The walk, raising money for St Mark’s and Friends of Kent Churches, will take place next Saturday (rather luckily I am not required at work then).

Obviously this means no canvassing next Saturday, or indeed next Sunday (as I shall be attending Church in the morning, then doing homework in the afternoon) – although I still have 1500 leaflets to deal with.