THROUGH THE ARCHED WINDOW

 

THROUGH THE ARCHED WINDOW

That morning they’d woken up to the first snow-fall, but there’d been no time to play before work, and by the time they got home it was dark.

 Harvey’s mum switched on the TV to a recording of Playschool and began to vacuum the house, secure in the knowledge that he was engrossed in trying to guess which window Floella would choose.

 His scream sent her racing downstairs two at a time, but Harvey cried, “Look, Mum – we can make a snowman tomorrow!”

 And through the arched window she saw her husband, outlined in lights like a mirage, home from the war.

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Shamelessly sentimental, I know, but there were thousands upon thousands of servicemen and women who didn't make it home from the wars which we remembered in England this week. So this story is a tribute to them.

'We will remember them' the prayer says, and I also love a less well-known but very moving one - 'When you go home, tell them of us and say / for your tomorrow we gave our today.'

The TV programme Playschool was a favourite with my children, all now adult. Every week they were asked to guess which of three windows, square, round or arched, would take them to the next part of the programme. Mind you, I had to ask my elder daughter the name of a presenter!