Don’t let nostalgia spoil all the good things we enjoy in today’s world
I READ with sympathy the letter from Marilyn Penney about all those good things we remember from Guernsey’s past that have been lost. Although not born in Guernsey, I greatly appreciated taking my family for afternoon tea at one of the two Maisons; the two-tier cake stands groaning with freshly baked, cream filled, tooth rotting cakes, the glory of the markets bustling with life, particularly at Christmas with row upon row of all manner of poultry hanging from above. I loved shopping in Pommier’s Charcuterie where huge hams rested on elegant china stands awaiting the knife, the air heavy with the scent of spiced goodies. And Robert Smith’s where he waited clad head to toe in crisp white and recommending aged Stilton, ‘the prince of cheeses’.
However, I also remember my much loved and funny mother-in-law dying far too early from emphysema because medical care in her early years hadn’t discovered how to prevent it. The son of close friends who also died young, his life blighted for years by bronchitis exacerbated by working in the cold, damp conditions of the market that brought so much joy to us at Christmas. Then there were the young people I came to teach leaving school aged fourteen after just two years of secondary education and still children, to take insecure jobs where they could find them. Meanwhile, the next generation had access to careers for life through the gradually improving education system in schools that could be quite large. I remember many years ago talking to a young, hard-working carpenter, the father of three, whose life was dominated by fear of one of his children needing medical care he couldn’t afford.
Life is about perpetual change, my ageing body reminds me daily. Some change will be good, some less good. What is really important is how we deal with it as humans. I look at young people today and marvel at their confidence and skill so early in their lives, wonder at the choice of careers open to them and their prospects as citizens of the world. I applaud all those ordinary souls who undertake prodigious feats for charities. I am so grateful for the medical care I can access so quickly, despite today’s pandemic, which is being fought so courageously. Sure I miss that gorgeous home-cooked ham, but we have many affordable places to eat out and a worldwide range of food to tempt us. We all enjoy a bit of nostalgia, but please don’t let it spoil all the good things we enjoy in today’s world by clinging to a past in which we just remember the
good things.
DICK TAYLOR, Torteval.