MonoMonday: Distance

We travelled back in time 40 years today to visit some of our old haunts. The catalyst was a letter we received last week, addressed to Tess's Mum & Dad and redirected from their former flat, inviting them to the funeral of one of their oldest friends, Doris.

Obviously, Doris's daughters hadn't realised that they had both passed away but we felt we wanted to be there on their behalf, especially as Doris had made Tess's wedding dress for our wedding 40 years ago.

So today we drove up, firstly to Orpington where we stopped to find the flats we lived in when we first got married, then on to Petts Wood to revisit the house I grew up in. My Dad would have been horrified to see the front garden he tended with such loving care for 40 years now a muddy parking space.

Next came Beckenham and one of Tess's parents' former homes and the church where we got married. We walked down the aisle together and stood in front of the altar as we had all those years ago.

The blip shows Tess under the church lych gate, the oldest in England (the gate, not Tess!) according to the plaque erected in the 13th century and still lookin good (both the gate and Tess!) You can see it from the opposite direction in this blip of one of our wedding photos: https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2963941

We the called in on another of Tess's parents' old friends who we hadn't seen for years.Tess grew up with her daughters so there was a lot of catching up to do.

To round a nostalgic day off, we're staying the night at the hotel where we had our wedding reception: no-one appears to remember us :)

We've certainly travelled a distance in miles and time today.