Dewiss Brown

This may be our last e-mail from England unless I get some time tomorrow, which is doubtful because our day is going to be really full. I will try to check the mail tomorrow morning (Thursday) before setting out on the day and respond to any news that needs to be attended to right away. We will be leaving here at one o'clock Friday morning.

These people in Yorkshire are just as bad as all the others. I get really hostile reactions every time I try to take out my wallet. We are ending the whole trip with one more family get-together, organized by Ann, at an English version of a Chinese food place tomorrow night. Originally I suggested that we take Ann and Ben out for a meal. That quickly turned into another family party. I said that would be great, thinking that I could be the big Canadian moneybags and pick up the check at the end of the meal. Ben has already warned me that it is not likely that I will be allowed to do that. I think they even have a surprise for Kathy's birthday.

Ernest's family is just amazing. They seem to do everything together. I can't remember the last time I sent information. I may not have told you about the family outing to Derbyshire. I hope not. It is something that needs a lot of time to tell properly.

However, I must tell you what happened today.

The day started quite normally (meaning cornflakes and toast). We went to see Mrs. Whitley, John's 92 year-old mum, and ended up staying for fish and chips (Marks and Spencer style) at noon. We then went over to Dorothy Foers' house and said goodbye to her, then to several other places where we had things to do. I will tell you much more about what we did when we return, for there lieth another very interesting story.

We started to walk back to Ann's. Our way took us past the 'Three Horseshoes' and after our tiring afternoon I suggested a pint of Stones bitter would go down well, since the day was warm. Kathy was willing, so we went in. There were few people there and we took our drinks to a corner where only one man sat. Almost immediately another man went by and settled himself at the bar at the other side of the room, out of our sight. As he passed, the man near us said to him, 'A'reight Dewiss?' We pricked up all four ears. I said to the man near us, 'Did you call that man Dewiss?' He said that he did. He didn't know Dewiss' last name, but was willing to ask and it turned out to be Dewiss Brown. So we went over and introduced ourselves. He turned out to be the son of George Osbert Brown, dad's brother and remembered the last time he saw Uncle Dewiss when he came to visit about 1989 or so. Dewiss, who is 50 years old, married with twin boys, said that although his dad had died, his mother, Iris, is still alive and got her on his cel phone. We talked on the phone and she invited us over tomorrow afternoon. We intend to get as much information as we can, so it looks as if it will be a busy afternoon. We will tell you all about it when we get back home.

After that we went to Herringthorpe to see Jacqueline, Bernard and her daughter, 'Trina, who is a 26 year-old elementary teacher. We went for a walk in the wood just beyond the playing fields and ended up just below Listerdale School (ask Neil about that one) before turning back.

And so to bed after another day in the English countryside.

The Browns