Monday 10 October 2011

Staying true to Sunday

The best kind of Sundays for me, have always been family days.  When my sisters and I were growing up, the Government hadn't yet introduced Sunday trading, so the hussle and bussle of town was strictly reserved for Saturday and our Sundays were spent playing, reading books, listening to music, going for walks and of course, squabbling with each other. 

A family visit to London Zoo with my four sisters, in the mid 70's.

We would wake on a Sunday morning to the sound of Jim Reeves, Nat King Cole or Perry Como crooning from the radiogram.  There would be a comforting smell of warm fabric conditioner filling the house as Mum tackled an enormous pile of family ironing and more often than not, Dad would be singing 'O Mein Papa', or 'Danny Boy' at the top of his voice in the kitchen as he prepared our weekly family roast - no mean feat considering there were seven of us living at home at the time!

Me and Fo, with our new baby sister Tina

And if the weather was fair, there was many a Sunday afternoon when Dad would pack us into his car and drive us to the local woods or seashore, to let us 'run off some stream', as he called it.

A rather blurry pic I took back in the 70's, of Dad with my four younger sisters.

Despite the passage of almost half a century, the heart of a Sunday for me has always been and I hope always will be, family.  Our lives are under constant demand to be ever busier these days and keeping hold of what's important can be challenging, but when it is possible to share a traditional Sunday with family, it really doesn't get much better than that.

Stuart, Fay, Fo, Simon, Ants, Han and of course, Bugsy!

If you are a regular 'Bearing All' reader, you may know I love to visit Knole Park in the Autumn.  It has been almost a year since I last gathered my lot together for a clomp through this spectacular deerpark, so yesterday we arranged to meet there and had a lovely time walking, talking and laughing together.


Life may have changed shape over the years, but for me and I'm sure for my sister Fiona too, the essence of Dad's family Sunday is as important today, as ever it was.


This beautiful ancient deer park is open all year round for walking, so if you would like to visit Knole Park in Sevenoaks, Kent, please click the link below to be taken to the National Trust website for further details:

4 comments:

  1. Loved reading your blog Paula, I can relate to it all except having all those sisters!! Your Dad must have been really outnumbered at times!
    It's a great policy to stick to on Sundays :0)
    Love the deer pictures too, especially the group one, it's fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a wonderful tradition, to hold together on Sunday! Well done!

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  3. It is lovely that you are upholding the special memories. Nothing beat the coming together of families.

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