When my youngest left school I was on the school's governing body, and continued to be a school governor for many years. I also worked closely with the Local Education Authority in governor support and training. It was very gratifying when in 1993 the County Council created a new non-voting seat on the Education Committee for a representative of school governors, and invited me to be the first one co-opted. This is the photograph on my ID card for County Hall.
In 1996 I joined Growing Old Disgracefully, and embracing the ethos whole-heartedly, created this Christmas card to send to my new friends in the organisation. (This is by no means its first airing on the web!)
In 1997 I won a joyride in a glider at a charity auction, and am here preparing for take-off. By the end of the trip I was looking green and miserable, after being catapulted almost vertically into the air, and feeling as though I was going to black out and lose my stomach contents. It took me a long time to recover.
In the year 2000 my husband and I decided to renew our marriage vows. We had been living apart for 15 years, and did not propose to change that arrangement at this time, but wished to acknowledge our continuing commitment to our marriage and family. This picture was taken in the church.
In 2002 I joined an on-line group of people promoting the songs of Jake Thackray, a Yorkshire schoolteacher turned composer and performer, who was on our TV screens mostly in the 70s and 80s. This was taken a year later by Keith Donovan, (who has since become a good mate), when I met up with some of the group for a pub lunch. It makes me feel good every time I look at, and is not new to my blog either.
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This is another of the rare nice pictures I have of me in my second childhood! It was taken by David Harris, another Jake Thackray mate, and was taken in 2005 when we went up to Leeds for the launch of a new musical based on Jake's work: "Sister Josephine kicks the habit". You can see more of David's photographic work if you follow the linke to his site in my sidebar.
When the Jake Thackray Project holds its annual get-together to sing and celebrate the work of the composer-songwriter, the stage is almost exclusively held by male performers. The female members need therefore to assert themselves in some other way, and have developed a nice line in "illustrating" one of the songs on each occasion. This was the nearest we were prepared to get to "frantically dancing naked for Beelzebub", as described in The Castleford Ladies Magic Circle.
6 comments:
Carry on being disgraceful. Jake Thackray is someone I rememember very well from my youth. Sister Josphine, yes.
It's been fun watching all the changes you've gone through - growing old disgracefully sounds like much more fun than doing it gracefully.
What age does one have to be to join Growing Old DisgracefullY? :)
There is no upper or lower age limit - we always say that one is never to young to start growing old disgracefully, as it is about an attitude of mind to getting the most out of one's life. We have some members in their 40s and 50s, more in the decades beyond that, right up to their 90s! You could sign up for the quarterly newsletter if you are interested. I believe their is a small group in Australia - you could ask the Membership Secretary, whom you can contact by my link to the website.
Thanks for the info J.
You seem like a fun person. I wish I knew you in real life!
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