Arriving home

Immaculate Conception Church Sandhurst.
(New Zealanders see no music screen)

The Holy Ghost Church in Crowthorne

Uncle Arnett

Hello everyone, after a long flight from Perth I am now at home in Crowthorne and Sandhurst. I have been here a week and I must say that I am really glad to be home. I think any more than six months and I would have got really home sick. That is not to say that New Zealand is not a nice place because I did enjoy my time there but I am getting to that age where home is sweet. I think one can only live out of a suitcase for so long then it becomes tiring. I want to thank all those who have befriended me during my time in New Zealand especially Fr Bill and the parishioners of Christ the King.

I will miss seeing my uncle Arnett every week and spending quality time with him. He is a great man who is very funny at times we had many laughs. I have included my favourite photo of him. Though in one sense it is not very flattering to him in another it sums him up as he is, a very natural man who is quick to see the funny side of life and laugh about it. A man who cares about others and doesn’t hold grudges against people. Everyone who met him said what a delightful person he was and how easy it was to get on with him. The only advice I will give to him is that before I come again to see him that he must get a new mattress for the old bed that I slept in. The mattresses that he has got now are the same ones that he got when he first got married in 1952. They are as nearly old as me. The one that I slept on, its sides had given up the ghost, so one was always sliding off the bed. Arnett’s mattress always reminds me of the one in the Hitchcock film Psycho. Here if you have seen the film the mattress bears the imprint of the dead mother of Bates. But as Arnett says he is happy with it so why should he get another one. There is not much argument against that. Any way I shall miss him and his sense of humour. Thanks Arnett for a lovely and great time. May God bless you.

The last time I wrote to you I had just landed in Perth. I liked Perth a lot and found it was my favourite place in Australia. It was a clean and laid-back city with a good city centre that was easy to access. The people were friendly and there was a good ethnic mix of people, which I feel always gives a city an extra ingredient. But saying that it was also good because of the great host I was with Fr Thi. He actually went beyond the call of duty with me taking me everywhere I wanted to go and showing me all the good things of Perth. And on top of that he would not let me pay a penny towards anything. Through him I saw all that was good in Perth. Charles and Moira friends of Winnie and Evelyn’s also were very good to me and had me for dinner. (not literally because I am still here). Fr Thi took me to the airport and saw me off and after twenty one hours I landed in England and was met by Bill my sacristan.

It was really lovely to get back and to top it all it was a lovely spring morning and everything was shinning. After the dryness of Australia it was lovely to see the lush green countryside of home with the May blossom blooming in so many different colours. It was good to be home. Before we went to Crowthorne for a Mass of thanksgiving to Our Lady for my safe return we stopped off at Winnie and Evelyn’s place for a quick hello and breakfast. Then it has been all go from there; business as usual.

I want to thank you all for calling into my blog. I will keep on writing it but not so often maybe once a month for my overseas friends and visitors so that they can keep up with what I am doing even though it will be the mundane things of life. May God bless you all Fr Kevin.