What Dreams are Made of

By Edna McCabe

Part 15 - So Many Memories

I've had to stop writing for a few weeks. So many happy memories to recall; it was just a bit too much. It would have been a pity to stop not to complete this little account of the main events in my life. And in some strange way I think getting everything down on paper is doing me good.

So let me move on to our Golden Wedding anniversary. It was so romantic for me, to think that I had lived so long and that I would now have the chance to repeat all those lovely words again. We were going to have Mass and a renewal of our wedding vows after fifty years of happiness. The whole family would be there and after Mass we were due meet all our friends and relations at a meal in the Royal Hotel.

To be honest, Martin would have settled for Mass and the meal. He said there was no need to renew our vows as we'd made them forever on the 1 January 1947. But he agreed that it was an opportunity for all our family and friends to meet. And so it came to pass and we managed to get a family photo of the eight of us - something we had always wanted. We never seemed to get them all together at the same time.

That same year Martin had reached "The Big Eight O". None of us thought of Martin as being old, as he was so young at heart. We thought he'd live forever. But time was running out. Looking back, I'm so happy that we made the effort to have two special days towards the end of our days. We had had our Golden Wedding celebrations and now we planned to have a surprise party for Martin's, 80th birthday.

All the family got together to plan the occasion; a list was prepared and everyone helped to track down Martin's friends. Then the "invites" sent out. This time Martin hadn't a clue. I remember one evening I was writing out a list and he didn't even notice. He was used to me scribbling bits of poetry and other rubbish.

Well, to get him to the Royal Hotel where the party was arranged was quite another thing. He was so comfortable sitting at the fire in his old slippers. When I told him Geoff and Valerie were calling to take us out to Coosan to see Tina, Tom, and family he said, "I suppose I'll have to go." But no way could I get him to dress up. He looked at the collar of his shirt and said, "That will do, Tina won't mind." What could I do only laugh.

We didn't stay long in Coosan and Martin said, "Good job I didn't go to the bother of dressing up." We were all enjoying the lead-up to the surprise. Then Geoff (as had been planned) asked us would we mind if he stopped at the Royal Hotel for five minutes on the way home, as he had to do a little message. We said that would be all right but Martin muttered that Geoff should have agreed to let us off first. When we stopped outside the hotel Valerie said, "You might as well come in for a few minutes."

Well, talk about a surprise! Everyone started to shout and clap and Barry Roche started the singing off with "Happy Birthday". It was a night to remember; and Martin was so happy to see his friends, both young and old. And of course he was thrilled to see his family from Mullingar. Everyone was delighted to see that Martin was so happy as they all loved him so. We had a big birthday cake and he had to blow out the candles. If only the party could have gone on forever.

I can't let our Golden Wedding go without remember the lovely surprise we got from Teresa and Martin. They booked us into a hotel in Dublin so that we could go to Clontarf Castle where "Dickie Rock and Guests" were appearing. We had a wonderful evening. As we sat at our table a bottle of wine was presented to us and when it was Dickie's turn to sing someone rang in with a special request for us. We always said it must have been Teresa. With that Dickie came to our table and sang the "Anniversary Walz". We got a great clap. It was a lovely occasion, especially for me, as I love all those sentimental song. And of course I was overcome with emotion as usual.