Pearls and such – Happy Anniversary Mum and Dad

My parents have been the foundations which have enabled me to pursue my dreams.  They have always been fully supportive of my desire to become a classically trained singer, and my brother’s dreams too.  I will be in Glasgow on their 30th wedding anniversary which is tomorrow the 1st October, and Matt will be in London, so we’ll have to rely on Tom giving them a hug.  We would love to wish them every happiness and I can’t wait to see them both at the weekend  🙂

MumAndDadNow

Pearls of wisdom

P is for Patience as you worked with each of us on the things that were important to our futures.
E is for Examples that you have both been to us in the way you have lived your lives.
A is for Always being there when we need someone to talk to.
R is for Resourceful in helping us identify ways we can work through our tasks.
L is for Loving us each and every day.

I can’t wait to see what the next 30 years has to bring.

MumAndDadWedding
On Their Wedding Day

My Dad is in the process of transferring all of our old video recorder tapes into his computer digitally then indexing them because this is what Mum has asked for as her gift.  I can’t wait until it’s finished so I can see some of them 😉 .   This process is taking him ages and he has been digitising them every night after work for the last two weeks and he’s only a quarter of the way through!  He says it is very distracting, apparently, to keep seeing us as babies, toddlers and young children as he keeps stopping to watch little clips he and Mum have remembered fondly along the way.

Dad said that we have always competed against each other and apparently there is footage of me and my elder brother fooling around pretending to be Power Rangers on their bed, aged 2 and 5, until Matt gives me a shove off the side of the bed!   Equally alarming is us both giving our one year old baby brother Tom a spin in the baby bouncer hanging off the door frame, and my first roller-skate practise with some of Tom’s nappies stuck down the back of my shorts because I kept falling over to give me a bit of padding.

Mum says it’s been sad too, she walked past the monitor and stopped to watch me singing ‘Truly Scrumptious’ from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to my Aunty Marjorie, my first fan who is sadly no longer with us, I think of her every time I sing in St Annes.  I can’t sing ‘Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again’ without tears as I sang it at her funeral service, it would have been her birthday on the 13th October.

I have loaded my performance of “My Ship” from the musical “Lady in the Dark”.  The musical was written by Kurt Weill ( music ) and Ira Gershwin ( lyrics ) and this song is the final song of the show following the three dream sequences “the Glamour Dream”, “the Wedding Dream” and the “the Circus Dream”.  It is a beautiful song and one of my parent’s favourites from my early repertoire before leaving home to start at RCS.

90 thoughts on “Pearls and such – Happy Anniversary Mum and Dad”

    1. Thank you, best of luck with the adoption process to add to your family. I love the idea that you are willing to give a child a family home, my Great Nana, we called her Nana Duck (because she was from Stoke on Trent and she used the pet term ‘duck’ all the time) grew up in an orphanage until she was 14 and then was sent to work on a farm 🙂

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  3. It is good to see your parents and brothers. I have always been aware of them there in the background, willing and helping you on. In the mayhem of this world, such a positive outlook is good for us all. So thanks and congratulations to your family from all of us out here too.

    Reply

    1. Thank you Hilary, my parents have been so supportive of me over my years on this earth. I wouldn’t be half of what I am today without their influence and encouragement.

      My best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  9. Beautiful post Charlotte, such a great tribute to your parents and family. Your parents must be very proud of you, as you are of them. Enjoy the weekend.

    Reply

    1. I loved your explanation of yuan-fen, my parents met on a blind date arranged by a friend to face their destiny 🙂 as you say staying together is doing the work necessary to succeed. Your photograph of the two swans dancing is beautiful too.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

    1. I do appreciate them Don, they both worked long hours each week to help to set us up and give us opportunities so we don’t have to work full time from the age of 16 as they did. Although they have mentioned once or twice that at our age they were working 60 hours each week so they expect us to adopt the same work ethic to our studies 🙂

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  11. Best wishes to your parents on their 30th anniversary. Lovely pearls of wisdom too. Good luck with your performance. Beautiful family you have!

    Reply

    1. Hello Janice, thanks for the good luck wishes and your lovely message. This weekend will be great because I get to see my parents and perform too 🙂

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

    1. Thank you so do I. As you’re a military wife have you heard of the “Military Wives Choirs” here in the UK, put together by a conductor called Gareth Malone for the BBC series “The Choir”, the wives learn to sing together while their husbands/partners are deployed for six months. The original choir are performing with the Tideswell Male Voice choir and a selection of young soloists (myself included) this weekend. I can’t wait to hear them.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  17. How wonderful…30 years! You have a beautiful family. I really enjoy reading the closeness you all share! Congratulations to your parents, looks like they’ve done a fabulous job raising their children.

    Reply

    1. Hi Koko, they’ll love reading your message, although they told me they wonder how we survived when they watch some of the videos back of us as little adventurous children. Mum said she couldn’t believe they carried on taping some of the stuff we were doing without intervening lol.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

      1. Hahahaha…yes those moments of video taping and pictures! Some will make good show and tell to your friends! Parents seem to like to do that. 😉 My husband loves to show the kids friends pictures of them! So fun!

  18. Merhaba Charlotte…

    a) congrats to the oldies, that’s a great achievement 🙂
    b) love the video, very classy – go girl
    c) how lucky you are to have such a great set of parents 🙂
    d) have a fab day (couldn’t think of anything more witty this morning…)

    UNCLE SPIKE

    Reply

    1. Hi Uncle Spike, the next time I’m in Vicram’s, an old friend from my karate club, Dad’s kebab shop at home I’m going to greet him with “Merhaba” as they are a Turkish family He puts the doner meat on the grill for me to burn off some the grease, I feel a bit healthier then when I munch through the Lamb doner meat, pitta bread and salad yummy.

      Best wishes from me and the oldies 😉

      Reply

    1. Hi Philip, you can’t watch without smiling, these children’s films; “Bednobs and Broomsticks”, “Mary Poppins”, and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” were amongst my favourites when I was little; the child catcher was very scary though 🙁

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

    1. Thanks Lena, I just love your style blog, I’m pleased tartan is trending I must keep my eyes out for a tartan style shawl whilst I’m in Glasgow.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

    1. Thanks Francina, they did not know I was going to post this message and have been overwhelmed by the responses from everyone 🙂

      Groetjes (regards/best wishes)
      Charlotte

      Reply

  25. Congratulations to your parents, Charlotte!! My parents will also be celebrating their 30th this month – on the 8th (small world!)! It is heartwarming to hear you say such uplifting things about your parents and their role in your life; they’re in a minority, having been married so long, and it’s an inspiration to the rest of us. My husband and I will celebrate our first at the end of October. 🙂

    Reply

    1. Hi Julianna, it is a small world, made smaller by blogging. Congratulations to your parents and also to you on your anniversaries this month 😉 . My Mum and Dad still have a long way to go to get near to my Grandpa and Grandma Hoather they’ve been married nearly 60 years and Nana and Grandad nearly 50 years.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

    1. Hi Jennifer when they were stopping me from teenage fun I didn’t feel blessed but going out and getting wild isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, having them to guide and support me has been much more important to me.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

    1. Thanks Gaurab, my parents are grateful for all the warm wishes they have received from everyone on the blog and i am pleased that you enjoyed my performance.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  33. Beautiful! As someone in a young marriage, this post speaks to me in more ways than one; about the patience it takes to stay together especially when you see purpose in your marriage (your R) and how much that blesses your offspring. Well done! Beautiful singing too!

    Reply

    1. I think it was a bigger task than he thought it would be but I can’t wait for Christmas when we can have the time to watch some edited videos of each of us that he’s planning 😉

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

    1. They’ll love that 😉
      They got up with me at 5am this morning and Dad drove to the railway station 30 mins away so that I could catch the early train to Glasgow, we got there with just six minutes spare. Good timing!
      All the best
      Charlotte

      Reply
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