BOOTS & CARL

Aunty Jean wasn’t Carl’s Aunty, she was a friend of his grandmother. They were neighbours on Kingsland Road in East London. His grandma was a seamstress who was ‘pushing fabric through a machine 24/7’, so Jean adopted some motherly and grandmotherly duties. She spoilt Carl’s mum, Emel and later Carl and his two brothers, Kieron and Cavan. When she moved out of London to Chelsfield the boys would spend a couple of weeks in the summer holidaying with her. She’d make them elaborate Knickerbocker Glories, served in large German Pils glasses shaped like boots. Doing this thrilled her, an almost teenage glee came over her as she watched them eat. In her late 70s she developed dementia, mild at first, but progressively more severe until finally she bore little resemblance to the generous, energetic woman they had grown up with. A few years later Jean died, Carl gave a eulogy at her memorial. He recounted Jean making the ice cream sundaes. Weeks later her house was being cleared, Carl found the Pils glasses and took them as a memento, it had been 30 years since he’d seen them, they had shrunk to just a few inches high.

15 Jul 2012