Old cards...

I had not photographed these before, but managed to 'borrow' them from my mum with a promise to return them at the weekend...

This one was for mum & dad's golden wedding, two and a half years ago. Sadly, my dad didn't make it. He died just the year before. I still felt it was appropriate to mark the occasion.

It is an acetate card, which you can see if you look closely.

This one was for my mum's birthday this year. She had mentioned that she wanted to find a copy of this poem, so I found it and printed it for her on the inside.

The poem is called 'Warning', by Jenny Joseph. (Scroll down for the poem.)

WARNING

When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple,
With a red hat that doesn’t go and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin candles, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I am tired,
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells..
And run my stick along the public railings,
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain,
And pick the flowers in other people’s gardens,
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat,
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go..
Or only bread and pickles for a week,
And hoard pens and pencils and beer nuts and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry,
And pay our rent and not swear in the street,
And set a good example for the children..
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

Jenny Joseph