There are so many over the years, but some stand out more than others as they all had their own element of fun and love.
Visiting Auntie Jeanne was for me, like a holiday. She always made that time and that time was special.. even though I would turn up unannounced with my football. That was the beauty of living so close just around the corner in fact... Thanks Mum!!

However, that didn't last long as her long awaited dream was to move to France. This was, though, an adventure and Mum and I had many holidays with Auntie Jeanne. The dinners were fantastic with fresh bread always, soups and the fish that I caught that day.
The preparation of the fish was always intriguing to watch, basically Auntie Jeanne would just pick them out of my bucket and slam them against the hard porcelain sink until they stopped moving. It never affected the taste, so no problem.

Most evenings we would play scrabble and she was always ahead in points, basically utilising the letters no one wanted in such away I would never of thought off hence I would come stone last. One evening however the board turned, quite literally, I managed to beat Auntie Jeanne... “WOW” I thought. I don't think I slept that much with knowing that I did.
Auntie Jeanne would take things in her stride and I think that reflected on where she was living, the pace of life slowed and you appreciated the whole day. This may explain why it took a long time to reach her place in France.

The first time we visited was in fact the time that Auntie Jeanne came with us on the ferry from Portsmouth. Every hour on the hour was time for a coffee and a duty free cigarette. 8 hours was a long time travelling but having that time and experience was worth every hour.

Auntie Jeanne was a very intelligent, positive, and understanding woman with such a witty sense of humour. She had no problems telling you what she thought.
My fondest memory was of the support she gave us and Mum when Dad, Auntie Jeanne's brother passed away in '89'. She always was fond of her brother and would mention it when we saw each other again at Christmas time while I was back in the UK, 2016-2019.

xxxx