The Woodhurst family statement of accounts for the year ending 89/90 left us looking a bit frayed at the edges, but optimism, our auditor, assured us that 1990 would see an upturn in our good fortunes. The change was a little slow in coming but it has to be said that the last two months of this year are showing a definite improvement. I trust that this epistle will reveal why we seem to have been preoccupied with family matters this year. To those of you who didn't hear from the Woodies last Christmas, we are looking forward to seeing and hearing from you all next year!

            A few days before Christmas we installed Granny and Grandad Woodhurst in Upminster ready for the Christmas break, but on Christmas eve Grandad collapsed on us! Consequently Christmas was celebrated with hushed voices, bodies creeping up and down the stairs, etc. After a few days of treatment and rest he recovered sufficiently for us to take him home. The next few months, until his death in March, were stressful for us all. The car almost set itself on automatic pilot, as our trips to Coggeshall became a way of life - most weekends and often once during the week.

            One weekend, during this period of time, some of the Colchester relatives had announced that they would visit Grandad, thereby giving us a Sunday afternoon to ourselves. She who must be obeyed decided that this was an excellent opportunity for garden duties! The garden was beginning to look dreadful and something had to be done. Dear Alan, my reluctant labourer, had barely put the manure round the second blackcurrant bush when the telephone rang.... the music was about to begin with a bang! ... it was the Police, to inform us that Dad Greig had had a head-on collision with another car, and now that the fire brigade had cut him free he was on his way to Oldchurch Hospital. The damage turned out to be several facial lacerations (the plastic surgeons mended his right eyelid quite magnificently), severe bruising where the seat belt tore into him, a couple of cracked ribs, compound fractures of both bones in his right leg, a displaced right knee cap (which is still causing havoc) and all the toes on his left leg were either fractured or dislocated. Within four days of his admission he had to have an emergency prostatectomy. Then came the psychiatrist... no, he hadn't tried to do away with himself! Finally the haematologist - did he realise that he had chronic lymphoid leukaemia!! (The gent's answer, "Well no, but I'm not surprised"). So for five weeks hospital visits were made daily: at 7 a.m. to deliver the morning paper and perform the ablutions - that is before travelling to work at 7-40 a.m. on the train - and sometimes evenings too if summoned to the bedside. In fairness Dad's stay in hospital was a revelation to us all; he was remarkably well behaved, his visitors arrived in droves - the folks from church and the Probus club saw to it that someone went every day, and through it all he kept remarkably cheerful (the third day of his stay, March 6th., would have been Mum and Dad's Golden Wedding anniversary - Sir's comment, "Oh she would have given me hell for landing up here!") The next few months were pretty difficult for us all. For several weeks I slept round at Dad's with reveille at 5-30 a.m., and the occasional night calls too. Needless to say Lydia was magnificent and quite unselfish with her time. What is important to report is that we have all survived and miraculously Dad is once again out and about. He has been left with a very slight limp, considerable pain in his right knee and quite obviously his leukaemia will progress - but he really is quite marvellous. The family have restricted his driving to local trips only - how? ... emotional blackmail ... by refusing to visit him in any other hospital than the local one!

             Undoubtedly our geriatric championship has been won this year by Granny. Not only has she coped with the loss of her partner of nearly 54 years standing, a second hip replacement operation in June, but this weekend we moved her from her home in Coggeshall, 40 miles away, to a sheltered retirement flat in Romford, 4 miles away. Alan spent many hours helping to clear the house, a marathon task but now achieved.

             And so to 'the young ones'. Nicola is now in her 3rd. year at Christchurch, in Canterbury, and continues to thrive. Still very much in love with Andrew, she has now officially become one of his tenants. Andrew decided to invest in a house; now he lives at home in Cranham, and has 5 students living in his home in Canterbury. A few weeks ago Grandpa, Granny, Jean Mitchell (Andrew's Mum) and I went down to a wonderful concert given by the College Choir in the Cathedral. In September Nicola and Andrew joined Granny, Alan & I in Tresco, one of the Scilly Isles, for a week ... it was wonderful, and whilst there we celebrated Nicola's 21st. birthday.

            Suzanne continues to be happy at work, as a trainee accountant with A.C.T. This week she is taking another exam, having already been successful in two of her Stage I exams earlier in the year. Her Summer holiday was taken in Corfu with Stuart, now dismissed as No.1 boyfriend - with Suzanne we just get used to her gentlemen friends and then a change occurs! This year Suzanne has become the Brown Owl of our church brownie pack, and it is a proud Mum reporting that she is making an excellent job of it. I have to tell you that it was a nervous mother away at brownie camp with her own pack for the weekend, and therefore not able to witness the event, who is reporting on Suzanne's parachute jump for Cancer Research... 5 mad young things from the office joined her. Suzanne is now a car owner, having bought Grandad's car from Granny; in short she's always out and about.

            Our little one is no more, he is now able to pat both his parents on the head - and be warned, don't get underfoot either, being trodden on by a size 12 foot is painful. With this being Douglas' G.C.S.E. year I would like to be able to say that we are heading for glory but I suspect the opposite may be true. Our hero is a lad for exams, and these projects etc. are not his forte, no doubt all will be revealed. Of far greater importance is his improvement on the golf course - thanks to a very generous gift from Grandpa he now plays regularly at Warley Park. He also plays rugby for the school 2nd. XV. Of one thing I can assure you, the lad will never starve, he's an excellent cook and a first class ironer - he earns his pocket money doing the family's ironing.

             Now a paragraph from the "Word Perfect" expert, who might soon rise to the dizzy heights of having a computer with a printer at home, otherwise you might not get next year's Christmas letter. You see, this is being typed and printed at work, but in a couple of weeks I shall retire! No, you haven't forgotten my age, the Polytechnic has given all those over 50 one last chance of taking early retirement with enhanced pension (supported by D.E.S.). I would be silly not to take it, since staying on and then retiring during the next 8 years would actually reduce my pension, whereas staying in education indefinitely could not possibly increase it! Furthermore I am being offered part-time work here for up to three years, which together with a gradual expansion of my work at London City College (and the interest on my lump sum) will result in our financial situation remaining very much the same for as long as required. I am really looking forward to next year, after having been rushed off my feet with too much work, at last I should have time to get round to those little jobs which have been postponed so long, and have some really free time to spend as I choose. One thing I did choose to do in October was to attend the silver anniversary meeting of the Havering 18-plus Group. I was responsible for starting it 25 years ago, and it was great to see many familiar faces from that era and to witness its current success.
          
           We all join in sending our love and best wishes for a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

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