07-01-2021, 12:28 PM
16326
Re: Leisurely Scribbles (part 5)
I've never seen the film, Uncle Silas. My family were agog, aghast, and agape when I told them I had never seen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, so we all sat down and watched it during the Twelve Days of Winter Solstice.
I enjoyed it.
There are only a few black and white films I will re-watch, one of them being The Brave Don't Cry.
It's about a mine disaster in Scotland and an amazing rescue that saved the lives of many men.
It was actually filmed in a studio, but was very realistic, and because most of the film was set underground, being in black and white added to the atmosphere.
When my brother and I were kids, my Uncle used to take us to the cinema. I've seen some of those films in later life and the shine has gone off them, but I can still understand why my ten year old self thought they were rip-roaring yarns.
I had a happy childhood, although I don't remember either of my Granddads. They both died before I was two.
I loved visiting both of my Grandmothers, especially my Granny's smallholding where she kept chooks. Surrounded by fields on one side and woods on the other, I would go exploring on my own for hours.
I too can't understand people who are cruel to children, although I can understand why some people don't want to have them. My lovely cousin (my Lovely Cousin's sister) never wanted children, but she has been a fantastic Aunt to both our kids.
I nearly lost my Lovely and our first son due to medical complications, and we were advised not to have any more kids.
We had discussed adoption when we were a-courting in case we couldn't have any kids, so we started making enquires and eventually decided to go with a Council adoption "agency".
We had to endure a training and selection process, being given real (but anonymous) cases to study and discuss. Some of the stuff was harrowing and upsetting. How could anyone do those sorts of things to a child?
Eventually we were approved as adoptive parents, then came the "pairing" process where we would be assessed to see if we would be suitable for a particular child's needs.
A panel would look at two or three couples on a shortlist to see who was the most suitable. Being one of the unlucky couples was hard.
The first time round we were so badly treated that we almost gave up, but eventually decided to have another go.
We were then paired with a three-year old boy and this time we were successful. We fostered him for a year before eventually adopting him.
It took two years and eleven months from the day we made the first enquiry to the day the judge signed the adoption order, and suffered an absolute roller-coaster of emotions during that time
He had been a ward of court and when he came to live with us we weren't given any medical information, so we had no idea whether or not he had been given any childhood immunisation.
Our GP surgery had his notes and we were allowed to read them and copy them, including the reports from two Emergency Department consultants when he had been brought to a hospital, first when he was six days old, and then when he was six months old.
We knew he had been physically abused, but had no idea to what extent. I won't repeat any of it here, but the only word I can use to describe not only his injuries, but how they came about is, horrific.
A six day old baby. A six month old baby. The perpetrator was given a jail sentence, suspended I believe due to diminished mental capacity.
When the judge signed the adoption order he said that our son must never have any contact with this person.
Social Services thought otherwise, but we knew legally they could do nothing about it.
We eventually set up contact using something called a letter box system with the lad's grandparents who were torn apart by him being taken away.
The first letter we got back brought tears to my eyes. You could feel the gratitude and the thanks between the words. They hadn't seen their grandson since he was six months old. None of what happened was their fault, which is why we eventually made physical contact, and they became part of our family until they both passed away.
Like you, I cannot understand how anyone can be cruel to an innocent child.
As for Trumpington, I wonder if he has Alzheimer's disease, or is mentally ill. He is acting like a combination between a spoiled brat and a dictator.