Phil Mercer

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Urm, the End (again)

 

Once again time ticks past and their are so many things I should write in this blog that I forget about.

So I now find myself with a lot of spare time on my hands and after reading back on the blog a bit, I've spotted that I have a few holes to fill in.

In my entry called The End, I must have been planning to go in to a different subject matter... as it was definately not the end for my Uncle. He is making process and although he will never be completely free of CLL, it should be possible to get it under control!

What I had intended to talk about was another closing chapter in another volume of the history of the Mercer Family.

My Uncle had been living with my Gran when she died. The reason for his house move was the sale of the family home "The Chase" to pay for the rather large inheritance tax bill. Until that point I hadn't realised how that house was as much a family member as my Gran or Grandfather.

Losing it was almost as difficult as losing one of them. It is strange how you can become so attached to something that is really just bricks and mortar. I suppose its the memories the house contained that are hard to let go of. Which is stupid really, because memories are attached to you - not the thing you are remembering.

Leaving the Chase happened the same week my Uncle ended up in hospital. One might conclude that the stress of the move may have added to his circumstances. In any case, to tell the truth I'm quite thankfull that he was indisposed - this allowed me the chance to spend the week at the house helping my other Uncle with the final packing and clearing out.

Without putting any real thought to it, I spent time in every nook and cranny that I could find. One thing that hit me quickly (and literally - in this case in the head) was the fact I had grown a fair amount since I had last tried to squeeze in to the hatch in the attic or the cupboard under the stairs.

That attic consumed a lot of my time as a child. It was possible to escape the watching eyes of the parents and create a fantasy world of spaceships and aliens. A lot of that was helped by old tape players and electrical equipment that made for a great control consol etc... Grandpa and I also built a train set up there together, very much a work in progress but great fun. It was also my fathers old bedroom... back in the days of the empire and pounds shilling and pense! That was just the loft.

Even the spring that stopped the door from the entry hall to the main hall brought back the memories.

Part of me wants to fill this blog with memories from The Chase, but I think most of it can only possibly be of interest to me. Navel gazing is such a great hobby!

I think I will probably re visit the subject in the future, but for the time being its time to hand in the keys to the family home. I wonder if I will look back in the same way at my parents house?

# posted by Phil @ 8:55 pm

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