Quiet time

My dear Friends

It has been quite a hectic year. Some major things have been accomplished; I got another newsletter to The Friends of The Little Sisters of Joy out and 700 letters went out to 23 countries. The Royal mail in the UK had just been privatised, but let's hope that most of them got to their destination, and i certainly got some good feedback from some of you, who enjoyed my tale of my time in Toronto. Another trip is planned for September 2015!

This time a friend wants to come with me and I may be going for a special event-will tell you all in due course. but how I long to return although i guess it's getting cold out there by now.

I am spending Christams day very quietly with an old friend I met at a local church lunch. Her name is Mary and she lived in China as a teacher for over thirty years. She has a lovely engaging personality and I look forward to being with her on that special day. Neither of us cooks very well so there will be no turkey, just cold chicken and all the trimmings, with of course mince pies to follow.

Speaking of turkey, we used to have that on Christmas day in my childhood. Nothing unusual you may say, but if you remember we were a Jewish family who don't normally celebrate the birth of Christ. However, my parents were married on Christmas Day in 1929 and so we used to have the turkey to celebrate their anniversary.

My mother used to say that there was a lot of snow on her wedding day and that she had to be carried into the Synagogue. Garnethill Synagogue, which my great grandfatther helped to found, is a listed building and used for services in the Glasgow Jewish community to this day.I visited it exactly a year ago when you may remember that I went to Glasgow to see my family and friends.

Will finish now, keep well and warm and enjoy your quiet days, as i will

Shalom, peace and Blessing
Gila
 

Success at Robinson College chapel

My dear Friends

I am delighted to tell you that the concert last Wednesday wasa a success. The venue was fabulous in robinson college Chapel and about thirty five people of different persuasions turned up, seemed enthousiastic and sang most of the music! It was lovely to see so many Friends in the audience.

Normally I give the audience a little time to warm up, but as i kicked off with Last night I had the strangest dream, that seminal Peace song by Ed McCurdy, father of folk in the modern day, they were encouraged to sing along amyway. it was a magic!

Donna Donna is a moving song anyway, all the more so when I stopped singing and they kept on, as they had in the first Concert for Peace and Reconciliation in Clare College all those years ago.

The evening would not have been such a great success if I had not shared the platform with a very special lady. Sue Gilmaurray is a singer and composer of some distinction, composing her own Peace songs, such as So let Peace Come.She introduce her songs in a very moving way. singing one of Tommy Sands, entitled Music of Healing, she recounted how Tommy Sands grew up as a Catholic in Belfast during the Troubles. As a child he would hear his father play some musical instrument as he was going to sleep; from the window he could hear the sound of the Orange drum, beating and from time to time he says it seemd that the two sounds were in tune together.

I sang a famous love song called Autumn Leaves (which my friend Anne Maddocks says is one of her favourites) and concluded the evening with a little medley of peace songs from the Jewish liturgy. They seemed to go down well and in the final tune from Psalm 33. Behold how good and pleasnat a tribe of brotheres living in uity together, the audience sang in parts.

Grateful thanks goes to Rev Simon Perry, Chaplain of Robinson College. I was able to make a small donation from the generous proceeds to the College. Simon was pleased, says he was sorrry not to make it to the concert, but hopes to come to the next one!

All good wishes and shalom
Gila