few sad songs

Bette Midler The Rose www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR6okRuOLc8

Eva Cassidy Fields of Gold www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnucawyfE8k

The Manhattans Kiss and Say Goodbye www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj96QFzOL5Y

Why these songs? Well, let me tell you a funny story . . .

The date was Sunday, March 18th, 2003. On that day, my daughter Bethany, who had a rare genetic disorder, was feeling down in the mouth. She had just turned 19 the Sunday before, but I had missed her big day due to work. The Sunday after was going to be a family day out. We headed off to the beach, which nearly killed me! Have you ever tried pushing a wheel chair in the sand? Bethany was not heavy, but the sand was hard work. Yes, we took the wheelchair into the sea. Well, she dared me to, what more could I do? It backfired as we got stuck and her brothers and sister had to rescue us.

Then we headed off to a restaurant for a family meal. I ordered Bethany a bouquet of her favourite flowers- purple roses, actually they’re called blue moon. I had them delivered. With the family all sitting round the table, we ordered our starters. They dually came but not mine.

“Waiter,” I yelled.

“Please Dad,” the other children begged, even more so when I used Bethany’s talking machine, to repeat the word, “waiter……waiter”.

Bethany had a contagions laugh. Due to her inability to swallow well, she drank from a special drinking cup. As she laughed her arm shook and the drink was showering the table behind us making her laugh even more.

Finally the waiter came out and said they had had run out of my starter. So ordered potato skins filled with cheese (stuffed with cheese the menu said). Five minutes later and after the rest had finished their starters, my potato skins arrived. I looked at the waiter he look at me, he asked, “Is everything okay Sir?”

The potato skins looked like scoped out coral boats, with a tiny bit of cream inside. Unbeknownst to the waiter, I was a trained chef and worked for the same company. In fact, I had designed the menu, so I knew what they should have looked like. Plus, I had the reputation of being one of the company’s top chefs.

“Is the chef new?" I asked sarcastically.

“No,” he replied.

“Go and ask him to come to my table,” I barked.

The chef came out and the children were trying to hide their embarrassment. The chef was French, “Do you know who Stephen Quayle is?” I asked.

“Oui, Monsieur. He is the chef who designed this menu. He works for the company.”

I took my company card out and showed him who I was, then told him to take the skins back to the bloody kitchen and do it right by the manual. The skins came back out and I ate them and the plates were dually cleared away. Next, the main meal came to the table, but they had forgotten to bring knives and forks.

After a few minutes I put my hand in the air clicking my fingers and shouting, “Garcon . . . Garcon!”

The children were now under the table crying in laughter saying, “No, Dad please!”

The waiter came and I asked, “Do you have chop sticks here?”

“No Sir, why do you ask?”

“Because we have no Bloody cutlery!” was my sarcastic reply.

All the children laughed in embarrassment, all but Bethany, she was amused.

The final straw broke when the puddings came out and they were cold. I stormed into the kitchen. According to my family, that they could hear the odd plate being smashed, the odd pan being thrown about, and every time a plate was broken the whole restaurant cheered. I took control and had staff running around like frightened rabbits. An hour later, Bethany came into the kitchen told me I’d done enough. She wanted me back at the dinner table.

That night in my own pub restaurant after shutting the doors and after cashing up, Bethany and I listened to the late night radio ‘the soppy hour’- me with my cup of tea, her with her cider and black, laughing about the day. These three songs noted above were played back to back.

These three songs were also the ones that were played at her funeral. Even today, eight years later, a tear still trickles down my face, as I remember her and our last family meal together. Not a day goes by when I don’t think of her.

By steve1958 (tiwix), © 2011, All rights reserved.

Author notes

For my friends in the USA -
starter = appetizer
cider & black is a drink, made up of cider and blackcurrant cordial
to cash up = counting the daily takings
a soppy hour = playing music which is "love" or quiet slow, not what you would hear in a dance hall (disco)

To see a photo of my daughter go to flikr seach fitz1958 and have a look at my photos