Overwhelmed

Betley Village Hall, a special venue.

Well, I knew they would come eventually; the tears. The ones you can’t reason with. The ones that come when you’ve run out of energy and adrenalin and there’s nothing else left. We’ve been watching out for them, knowing fully that however well we think we are coping with the events of the 23^rd August, there are going to be bad days.

So, there I was, in The Range, of all places, distracting myself and the eldest fledgling with retail therapy, despairing that they have Christmas decorations in the shops already. IT’S SEPTEMBER, PEOPLE!  SEPTEMBER! Twenty-two days after the fire that destroyed Betley Court, I came across a roll of artificial turf. Your common-all-garden fake grass on a roll. And that was it. The tears thought that was the time in the middle of a busy store on a Saturday afternoon, to put in an appearance, however inconvenient or embarrassing it might be.  Thankfully, the eldest was on hand with a hug and a hankie.

I’m not in the habit of crying over fake grass. Yeah, sure, I don’t like that people are covering over their gardens with the stuff and depriving insects of valuable habitat, but it’s really not a crying matter. Its just the roll of fake grass reminded me of something else that was burnt in the fire – a piece of brand-new artificial turf I’d recently bought to carpet our retro caravan, Ladybird with. Not an important object in itself, but it got added to the list of possessions I’d remembered we stored at the Court, and lost. But then again, the tears weren’t really about that anyway, they were born of tiredness and anxiety.

How lovely, table centre-piece of fresh hydrangeas!

So, it was lovely to receive an invitation to attend Sunday lunch at the Village Hall with former residents from Betley Court. We arrived to find a side room laid out with pretty bone china and fresh hydrangeas. We were introduced to the team putting on our lunch by Johanne, some of whom I recognized as helpers from the night of the fire, and old friends, Richard and Fenella. Then we were invited to have a glass of wine, take a seat, and enjoy a beautiful homecooked meal. Once the starter was served, everyone else left and the door was gently closed, leaving those former residents, and me and Nigel to catch up and make sense of events. We found out where people had moved to, and shared stories of how acts of generosity had touched us. A camaraderie born out of a night of fire, and a dark humour that has come out of a ‘you have to laugh, else you’d cry’ mentality.

Nigel's favourite course - peach doughnut and ice cream!

For me, the meal was a lovely moment to be excused from having to make decisions. Somebody else had sorted out the meal, decided what to cook. Someone else was taking care. Two lovely hours off from the needs of everyone else.  It was lovely to be treated kindly and have a private, non-pressured catch-up with people who had to leave the Court after the fire. We will remember that act of kindness for the rest of our lives.


X Ladybird Su


PS. Thank you to those that have sent little ‘care packages’ to us over the past few weeks. Steph, Lorraine, Melvyn and Shane – you rock guys! The staff from Alpha Care – the best! Dave – you should be on ‘Great British Bake Off’. John -thanks for the hugs and recipes. Amber – keep singing! Em and Kev, Ronnie and Reggie, love you – thanks for the dog therapy and boat trip! Amy & Eve from work – bless! The brilliant team at Arvia Technology – how very thoughtful of you! Richard – we chose you as our ‘best man’ all those years ago wisely – you and Fenny have been the most excellent of people to us. Above and beyond. Bravo! Sarah, Mike and family – you know us too well! Chin, chin! Cathy - for the grundies! Ma n Pa for the flowers, shopping and advice. To everyone who put on such a splendid lunch at Betley Village Hall. And everyone in the wonderful village of Betley, Staffordshire who offered, with genuine grace and warmth, their homes to our displaced community of residents. It has been truly humbling.

Denton & Martin Brown and your families. Thanks for being there. We are stronger together than individually. Love you!
N, F, B & R - your fortitude, courage and grace over the last few weeks has astounded me. Thank you for the hugs and cuppas. As 'Big G' once put it 'For without whom' . I hate that we have to go through this, but the best is we have eachother. Love you!