Saturday, May 12, 2012

Auntie has been speaking...

...about Blessed John Paul the Great at various groups and conferences and meetings. Most recent was a talk to to the boys of FAITH Club at the John Fisher School, Purley. We have strong family associations with this school and it was a very special thing to be walking through the familiar gates and greeting the boys in their familiar blue blazers with the golden Fisher badge... and it was good to be talking about the great John Paul to a members of a new generation to whom he is already a hero-figure and part of Catholic culture...by long tradition, FAITH meetings at the Fisher conclude with substantial quantities of tea and buttered toast, and as I munched I remembered - and Dan Cooper, who runs the FAITH Club, told the current members - how my mother had for years presided at the teapot and toaster, passing round plates stacked high with delicious slices... Later in the evening, a happy time with Dan accompanying me on my usual evening time with my mother...talks, memories, the strength of the faith and of long and valued friendship...

5 comments:

Terry Fenwick said...

Writing Amazon to get this wonderful new book up for us in America. It is a great idea, Joanna, and I hope you do more of these for children.

You might even want to do a History as His Story for the children. Adults will love it, too, and learn from it.

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

My brother and I were at the John Fisher School in the 1990's and both regularly attended Faith meetings on a Friday.

To this day, we still talk about 'Mrs Nash's toast' and how delicious it was! We often puzzled over why it was so much nicer than toast we had anywhere else!!!

Joe

Anonymous said...

I was also at John Fisher in the 1990s I really loved the school which gave me a small music bursary.

I know lots of people complain about it being too selective blah blah but I loved every moment.

There were lots of boys from middle and upper class backgrounds but my bursary was clearly a sign poorer boys were as welcome at the school.

Richard

Anonymous said...

John Fisher is still one of the best schools in South London and Surrey but is no longer highly selective.

A lot of parents choose The London Oratory, Sutton Grammars and trinity over John Fisher since it ended its selection policy.

Anonymous said...

hahahaha I remember Mrs Nash!!!

yes her toast was ridiculously good.

I think Fisher is a little easier to get into these days, they take more boys for a start since they expanded from 600-1100 boys, so nearly double in fact.

There are also no tests or interviews for admission so they cannot 'cream off' a certain type of boy any more.