Grandad – Sheila & fam came & cut the lawns. E went to DMC.
Mum – Cut lawns at Drayton in aft. Spotsoc did Holy Moses in evening. Alan played clarinet. Took 3 Sinequan + 2 Anadin for pain in right arm at night. Pain kept me awake 2 nights. ?Arthritis.
Notes
Grandma Was Keeping Grandad’s Diary at This Point
Grandad had not been very well, see Chapter 116. I think this means that grandma filled in his diary for him although he may have made the odd entry. The evidence that grandma was mostly keeping his diary is the change of handwriting but also that, sometimes, she referred to him as Gordon and not as “I“. Grandma completed grandad’s diary quite a lot when he was sick, see Chapter 113. However, she was not always consistent. Sometimes, she referred to herself in the first person and grandad in the third person while, at other times, it was vice versa. On this occasion, grandma is referred to in the third person as E.
We Went to Grandma and Grandad’s and Cut Their Lawns
Sheila refers to my mother Sheila May Drew née Parkin. We went to grandma and grandad’s in Drayton. They had large lawns at the front and back of their house which required frequent mowing, see Chapter 126. Increasingly, grandma and grandad were unable to do this themselves so we did it including on this occasion.
Grandma Went to Drayton Methodist Church
E refers to my grandmother Ethel May Cecilia Parkin. DMC refers to Drayton Methodist Church. She attended services there. they usually had two services on a Sunday, in the morning and in the afternoon, see Chapter 124.
Spotsoc and Holy Moses
Spotsoc refers to the young people of St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church, see Chapter 124. From memory, it stood for St Peter’s Over Twelve Society. All my siblings were involved in it, I believe. However, although I did go to one or two of their activities over the years, I was never really involved.
“Holy Moses” is a musical of about 45 minutes in length that tells the story of Moses in a way that is aimed at children. Various performances of it are available on YouTube including this one. I also found news articles concerning relatively local school performances of the musical in King’s Lynn in 1977 and Laxfield in 1988.
Alan refers to my brother. He played his clarinet as part of Spotsoc’s performance.
Mum Was Taking Antidepressants
During this period, mum had severe struggles with her mental health, suffering with depression and anxiety, see Chapter 116. As she noted, she was taking the tricyclic antidepressant doxepin (Sinequan). She had reduced to two tablets per day having previously taken three. However, on this occasions, she went back up to three tablets.
Mum Had Pain in Her Right Arm
Mum frequently experienced various aches and pains at this time and, most times, no cause could be found, see Chapter 116. It seems there may have been links between some of her physical symptoms and her low mood/poor mental health. On this occasion, she took two Anadin for pain in her right arm at night. It had kept her awake for two nights and she was worried it was arthritis.