Back to the block of flats where Joyce lives.
It's sheltered accommodation, which means all the flats have alarm cords in each room and there are always staff members available to help. There's step free access to all areas and disabled toilets on the ground floor by the Community Room.
Aha! The Community Room! Mum & Dad hadn't been there when they went to visit, so it didn't occur to Mum that this might be where we would go after the service.
It made sense, because that way all their neighbours could come, whereas many of them would not have made it out to a pub. It was a functional space, but there were plenty of tables and chairs and room to move around. I'd say when we left there were about thirty people, which is a decent tribute.
All nicely catered by a rather familiar supermarket. You know, one which employs really sexy staff on their Deli counter.
The "boys" (Ted's sons, both older than me) provided the wine and sherry, or there was tea & coffee.
Mum, Dad and I all managed to have a good chat with various different family members. Auntie Joyce has promised to come and visit this year - she's more sprightly than Ted was, and being very honest she was tied down by him in the last year, because she didn't want to leave him alone. And of course once he went into hospital she wanted to be close anyway.
She'll be coming with Beryl though... it'll be a treat for her to come to Aylesbury and be surrounded by white faces I suppose.
We got a taxi back to Peckham Rye, and the driver took a mini-detour for us to show us London spread out in the sun, it's postal districts packed like squares of wheat.
Nice chap. Jewish.
