The best things in life begin with the letter C. They include but, as manufacturers often say, are not limited to: Champagne. Pale imitations won’t do. Canapes which are about the most indulgent way that people, who enjoy a good networking event, sustain themselves while coiffing the afore mentioned drink. Countryfile because I’m a country girl at heart. Cats, and here I can be even more specific and ask everyone to give it up for Clive who coincidentally has a name that begins with the letter C. Chocolate, which doesn’t do it for me but I’m being generous here. Crisps, which definitely do do it for me. Cheese, that king of food. Children, who offer all the promise of what is to come and always lift the spirits. Chatter, and here I should defiantly mention friendship but that doesn’t alliterate in quite the way I had in mind so I’m giving it up for Chums.
It might be cheesy to say so, but there is nothing like love and friendship when the chips are down. I didn’t include chips in my favourite things because I went on a twelve-step programme, in order to give them up. Other vices have persisted.
When it comes to Chums, they are the tops. I’d like to change tack here a bit. I have previously mocked the rise of the Whattsapp Group. The endless offers of other people’s rubbish, free to anyone who wants it, holds no interest to me. There is one Whattsapp group that I offer up early praise for. They are the “A Team”. It’s a Whattsapp group that is all about me and it is stuffed to the gunnels with Chums, all of whom I adore and who I should never want to be without. They are the kindness of friends. Kindness is a word that coincidentally starts with a hard “C” sound just like Cat, and that’s how my friends make me feel right now, like a cat that is enjoying being stroked and indulged and loved far beyond what I could ever reasonably expect.
There are many things to be annoyed about in life. There are things to bring you down. Some of them begin with the letter C; Coughs and Colds are a blight. I’ve spent too long hanging out with two years olds so I know about coughs and colds and must have built up enough resistance to see me through old age. Covid, which I have had and lived to tell the tale. Happily cleaning and chlamydia remain a mystery. Then there is Cancer, defiantly a hard “C”. It’s the “C” word I hoped to avoid, but it has slammed into me and I need a good Cry. I’m learning all about Cancer and Chemotherapy. On the upside I won’t have to worry about rogue hairs on my chin.
The thing about this less than desirable second list is that they have afforded me so much more time to avail myself of all the wonders of the more desirable of the “C” lists. You have to make the best of these things and find as many small joys in life as possible, so now’s the moment to surrender, put my feet up, catch up on all those back editions of Countryfile while guzzling canapes. I think champagne will have to wait.
Thank Goodness for Catch Up TV, another good thing in life that begins with the letter “C”.
Thank goodness for the “A” team, the ever expanding list of girl friends with whom I have laughed and cried and sometimes cried with laughter. They have caught me. That’s another “C” word, and I don’t think I will ever let them go.
