KEY WORDS Durham Miners' Gala, Fodens' Brass Band, Birthday Celebration, Beamish Old Hall, A211 Philosophy, Leeds University, Portrait of a Life
My mother often used to say that you're a long time dead lest we forget that life is for living. And, there's a lot of truth in that. As well as being something of a folk pychologist and a philosopher, my mother - a northerner born and bred - was also a lover of all things Durham and knew a good brass band when she heard one. Today, Durham was once again alive with music for connoisseurs of my mum's ilk when our beautiful cathedral city hosted the Durham Miners' Gala, otherwise known as The Big Meeting. The build-up started last week with The Streets of Brass. This is now an annual add-on, a festival of music which saw bands from around the world on every street corner and playing every style of brass music imaginable.
My own week started last Saturday evening in Durham and, of course, I was to be found listening to brass - what else? I'm my mother's daughter. At 7.00 p.m. precisely the Fodens' Brass Band struck up with The Cossack by Rimmer in Elvet Methodist Church in Durham City and I had a front row seat. It was a stirring and varied programme, but - for me - the best bits came from guest soloist, young Peter Moore (no relation). Peter (once Young Musician of the Year) gave a rendition of A Nightingale Sang in Berkely Square and this had to be the highlight of the evening. Coming in at a close second was the enthusiastic (and loud) Comedy Tonight by Sondheim from Fodens' Brass Band, itself.
And, that was my birthday celebrations, nearly - but not quite - over. Sunday saw all of my crew of five living it up for Sunday lunch at The Old Mill (complete with duckpond and ducks) in Knitsley, near Consett - lovely venue - truly Fields of Gold and worth remembering.
So, the week had started - and what a week that was. Tuesday, too, had a lot to commend it. This was an early start which took me to Beamish Old Hall Hotel (near Beamish Open Air Museum) for - believe it or not - a one-day website optimization course courtesy of Business Link. Who would have thought that an old codger like me could find herself in the company of computer geeks from all around the Durham area? But, I was. And, I learned a bit more about websites, flanked by Sue (bespoke guitars) on one side and Sandra (bespoke jewellery) on the other. In the room of a beautiful building, there were around 30 other business people, all intent on making their own mark on the web re their particular product or service - website optimization, no less! I didn't quite decide to update with an Aide-mémoire at that point ... but it was coming ...
Not before, of course, I had dealt with that recurring nightmare, another Open University essay for the Philosophy course I keep banging on about! And, what a nightmare, it was. If I were to tell you that the Minds and Body book of A211 concluded with an essay question around eliminative materialism and went something like this,
'Can Folk Psychology be defended from Paul Churchland's criticisms?',
you probably wouldn't believe me. But, those are the exact words and - believe it or not - I got to the end and (with hand over heart) can say that I now understand the difference between dualism and monism and even have a working knowledge of how Rene Descarte arrived at the conclusion, I think, therefore I am. This was no mean feat for Descarte - or for me for that matter. I'm now a disciple of ... and that would be telling!
But, the week didn't finish there - not even when I triumphantly dotted the last 'i' of my essay at 2.00 a.m. on Friday morning. With my head completely 'done in' as they say, It was another early start and my husband, the dog and I were off to Leeds for the day. Like today (Saturday), yesterday in Leeds was another English summer's day. Sadly, I spent it indoors - but in the imposing Gandhi Lecture Theatre of Leeds University which was some consolation. My husband walked the dog in Headingley, got him photographed, read the paper and probably snoozed in the car and all this for four hours. This was, of course, whilst her indoors did the business.
The business for the day was the Portrait of a Life: Official Launch. For those who don't know (and really why should you?), Portrait of a Life is the name of a 'multi-media toolkit for Life Story Work'. A gentleman called Peter Ashley introduced the launch and then the various members of the panel, each in turn, gave a short talk on their take on, and involvement in, life-story work. The toolkit itself was explained by Suzanne Wightman as 'A Solution to a Problem' and soon we were watching an inspirational film called 'Going Home' which pulled at the heart-strings causing me, at least, to weep silently at the sadness of growing old in a care home. And, then things perked up as the benefits of life-story work were outlined.
The Portrait of a Life Toolkit is designed to assist the relatives of people suffering from memory loss to build up a picture of their loved ones in times past, the object being to help professional carers understand and respect their client's uniqueness and, of course, their own individual life story. I'm pretty sure that many who (like me) only give 'old age' a passing nod, will be becoming increasingly aware that it might be 'a good idea' to start their own Portrait of a Life and not leave it to others. We were told about the value of memory boxes and journals and, for me (and my family) this whole website is an electronic 'Aide-mémoire'. Lest I forget - which is a distinct possibility.
In concluding this - my first dedicated memory aid - I thank the whole Portrait of a Life team for an innovation which should prove of value to residents of care home throughout the land. It remains only to say that the speakers at the launch reminded us all of our common humanity and - in the case of people with dementia - to remember that there is a person behind that label. Life-story work is not about unearthing skeletons in cupboards; it is rather a celebration of our history and about what we are prepared to safely reveal to others. It is indisputable that we are all - each and every one of us - custodians of our own and our family's past.
For more information, go to LIFE STORY NETWORK in USEFUL LINKS.
Join me next week for Aide-mémoire No. 2.
Marian @ Krysan
POSTSCRIPT
"Spare a few moments for a Youtube tour of Durham City, its cobbled streets so dear to Durham hearts like mine." MARIAN
A new website well worth a visit is SaveEveryStep.com. This has been built with multiple generations in mind. One day in the future, someone may be investigating you as part of your family tree. They might end up with a standard list of names and dates, but imagine the difference it would make to discover a complete account of your life, and the lives of your family members. Even pets can have a lifeline! BACK TO TOP OF HOME PAGE
