The Opening Few Pages

In looking at my draft Word document, I see that it started on August 20^th, 2000 at 23:04.

The greatest gift that I can give,

Is to recount the life I’ve lived.
To tell you of the things I’ve seen,
What is today, and what has been.

The times I’ve lived through, good and bad,

The tears I’ve shed, the fun I’ve had.
Account as best I can recall,
In a book that’s written for you all.

The title and theme of this book came to mind recently and it started me thinking that you would be living in about 100 years from now. Life will surely be vastly different for you, technology will have advanced beyond the extent of my imagination, you will have learnt from the mistakes of the past (hopefully) to create a better world for young and old, where people will treat each other with more respect and consideration. It is my hope that the enquiring minds among you will want to know something of life in these times. I will try to present that for you here.

My intention with this series of essays is to tell you something of life in the latter half of the 20^th century and as much of the 21^st as I get to see. This will be a serious account of many matters but hopefully presented in a light way. A great man once said “In my humble opinion Claude, Life is too serious a matter to be taken seriously”. This was Rumpole of the Bailey, a fictional character but capable of blinding wisdom nonetheless.

One thing I ask you to bear in mind is that this is a subjective account of these times. It is one man’s view - nothing more. Although this is a subjective account, I have lived through these times and according to my closest friend, lived a full life by comparison with the majority. You will find this book contains observations, opinions and other people’s wisdom. Here’s a quote that springs to mind at this point. This is a paraphrase – not the exact quote from Thoreau.

“I went to the woods because I wanted to live deep. To suck out all the marrow of life and not realise that when I came to die, that I had not lived.”

Too many people avoid life, finding excuses to say No, playing safe, waiting for the right time. Then their life ends. Here’s a poem on this matter.

Waiting for the Right Moment

Faster than a speeding cloud,

Sliding ’cross a still, blue sky,
I always thought that there was time,
Until my life passed by.

I shilly-shallied, stalled and dallied,

Till the time was right,
While I waited, hesitated,
My short life was in full flight.

Glancing up from empty planning,

Looking backwards, then I saw,
Better moments had passed by me,
Passed me by, some time before.

Bewildered, sad, I saw too late,
In my life’s fading candlelight,
The truth of a capricious Fate -
The time is never right.

So, my, son, as now I leave you,
Take my hand and learn from this.
Live each moment you are granted,
There is no more precious gift.

I have only held this view for the last 10-15 years but I now try to live life more fully, accepting offers, trying new things, saying Yes when it would be easier and more comfortable to say No.

Hopefully, this has given me experiences that enable me to present for you a broad, frank and, (Dare I hope?), occasionally amusing view of the late 20^th Century, plus a little of the 21^st. I have no sponsor for this piece so there is no bias to the writing other than my particular view of the world and the way I believe it operates.

I will also tell you things about our family and about myself, what makes me laugh what has made me cry, important people that have passed through my life, clever words I have heard or read, noble deeds, acts of decency and unselfishness that I have witnessed. There will also be some reference to the opposite of these things. I discussed this book today with a friend who asked how I intended to keep it on track. He has known me for some time and is aware that I have a tendency to take conversations and trains of thought down alleyways off tangents. I have no intention of keeping this to a predefined structure. I will write this as thoughts occur and we will explore subjects with all the focus of Mr. Magoo – a myopic cartoon character, incapable of seeing his hand in front of his face. I enclose a quote from The Black Fox, which, hopefully, I will finish one day:

“Renata had a full and active sense of humour and had never been burdened by an excess of respect for the truth.  Consequently, the story that she told the children may have had elements of fancy that caused it to stray from The Path of True Account which passes through the Forest of Distractions.  However, the children liked her stories and it is well-known that legend rarely follows the same star as Historical Accuracy; its reputation for being a reliable account of momentous events is as solid as a birdsong, and just as welcome.

As the flames of the camp-fire danced, the children’s faces glowed in its light and with the expectation of a tale from their favourite storyteller.”

This should also tell you that from time to time, I may lie – a harsh word but technically valid. If this occurs, it will be to amuse and entertain you – not to mislead. There will not be any lie on a serious topic. Of course, I may be lying here.

This is a family document. I don’t expect it to be published. I will ask my sons Stephen and Nicolas, to pass it to their children when I am gone and to ask the same of their children. By these means, it may someday reach its intended audience – my great, great grandchildren. I hope you will find it entertaining and informative. I will save it on the computer storage media of today, but I expect you will need the services of a museum to retrieve it from DVD, CD ROM or floppy disk. Instead, if each generation can save it to the storage medium of the day, maybe it will survive. Similarly, if some of the family want to contribute to it along the way, it could become a living account of life through the 21^st Century - through the eyes of your ancestors.