I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off.  I immediately ran over and said "Stop!  Don't do it!"

"Why shouldn't I?" he said.

I said, "Well, there's so much to live for!"

"Like what?"

"Well...are you religious or atheist?"

"Religious."

"Me too!  Are you Catholic or Protestant?"

"Protestant."

"Me too!  Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"

"Baptist."

"Wow!  Me too!  Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?"

"Baptist Church of God."

"Me too!  Are you Original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?"

"Reformed Baptist Church of God."

"Me too!  Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?"

"Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!"

To which I said, "Die, heretic scum!" and pushed him off.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-12735121/Kate-Middleton-cuts-solemn-figure-elegant-black-outfit-joins-Queen-Camilla-balcony-Remembrance-Sunday-Service.html

Kate Middleton cuts a solemn figure in an elegant black outfit as she joins Queen Camilla on a balcony at the Remembrance Sunday Service

    The Princess of Wales, 41, dressed all in black as she appeared in Whitehall
    READ MORE:  King Charles leads Remembrance Day service at Cenotaph

By Lydia Hawken For Mailonline

Published: 11:03, 12 November 2023 | Updated: 15:01, 12 November 2023

The Princess of Wales looked solemn as she appeared at the Cenotaph for a poignant service to remember fallen soldiers.  Kate, 41, maintained a sombre expression for the occasion and dressed in an all black outfit as she arrived at the Remembrance Sunday Service at Cenotaph in London.  On the lapel of her Alexander McQueen military-inspired coat, Kate opted for three red poppies to pay tribute to all those who have lost their lives in conflict while fighting for their country.  The mother-of-three also wore a silver brooch, which she was awarded when she became Commodore-in-Chief of the Fleet Air Arm earlier this year.  The royal styled her hair in a chic updo and completed her ensemble with a large Philip Treacy hat, with an elegant velvet bow.  The Princess of Wales first wore her Alexander McQueen coat for the Remembrance Service in 2019 and debuted her Philip Treacy hat for her first Christmas at Sandringham in 2006.  At the start of the service, a two-minute silence took place across the UK at 11am.   Wreaths were then laid by members of the royal family, senior politicians and dignitaries at the Cenotaph in London.  Charles led the country at the Whitehall memorial in commemorating the end of the First World War and other conflicts involving British and Commonwealth forces.  Wearing the uniform of the Marshal of the Royal Air Force with greatcoat, poppy and sword, the King laid a wreath similar to the one produced for King George VI.  The wreath featured 41 open style poppy petals made from bonded fabric.  It was mounted on an arrangement of black leaves traditional for sovereign’s wreaths of 27-inch diameter ribbon and bow using the colours from the King’s racing silk scarlet, purple and gold.  A wreath was laid at the Cenotaph for the Queen by Major Ollie Plunket, The Rifles, equerry to Camilla.  The Queen viewed the Remembrance Day service from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office centre balcony, alongside the Princess of Wales.  Camilla's wreath closely resembled the wreath produced for the Queen Mother, Buckingham Palace said.  The Duke of Edinburgh and the Princess Royal also laid wreaths at the Cenotaph.  Senior politicians including Rishi Sunak, Sir Keir Starmer, Sir Ed Davey, James Cleverly and Suella Braverman were assembled near the Cenotaph. Behind them were former prime ministers Liz Truss, Boris Johnson, David Cameron, Gordon Brown, Theresa May, Sir Tony Blair and Sir John Major.  The Prime Minister was among senior politicians who have laid a wreath at the Cenotaph. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Ms Braverman also took part in the ceremony.  Almost 10,000 veterans and 800 armed forces personnel from all three services were then due to take part in a march-past.  Among those marching are nuclear test veterans, who for the first time will wear a medal acknowledging their contribution.  After 70 years of waiting for recognition, those exposed to the effects of nuclear bombs during the UK's testing programme were given a medal, depicting an atom surrounded by olive branches, for the Remembrance Sunday service.  More than 300 armed forces and civilian organisations are represented, as well as 300 veterans not affiliated with an association who have been invited to join for the first time.  Meanwhile across the pond, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been paying tribute to veterans in the US and around the world this week.  On Thursday the Duke and Duchess of Sussex joined the Navy SEAL Foundation for the official opening of a new training base, known as the 'West Coast Warrior Fitness Programme' facility, ahead of Veterans Day on November 11.   The couple were meeting veterans, servicemen and women and and their loved-ones at Camp Pendleton.  Last night, King Charles unveiled new statues of his late parents at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance in London.   The life-sized bronze artworks, commemorating the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh's dedication to the Royal Albert Hall, were erected as part of the building's 150th anniversary.  Charles was joined by Queen Camilla and the Prince and Princess of Wales at the Royal British Legion's Festival of Remembrance, with Kate wearing one of the late Queen's pearl necklaces.  The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent were also in attendance.  As they took their seats, Charles was seen waving to the packed hall.  Mr Sunak observed the event from a box to the left of the royals alongside his wife Akshata Murty while Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer sat in a separate box to the right with his wife Lady Victoria.  The event saw the King unveil the statue of his late mother, while Camilla pulled back the curtain on the bust of Prince Philip.  Upon arriving, Charles and Camilla shook hands with two men before they revealed the statues for the first time.  After a countdown of three, Camilla pulled on a golden rope and red velvet curtains revealed the bronze statue of Prince Philip

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12673407/Unearthed-lost-memoir-Edward-VIII-reveals-truth-Wallis-Simpson-convinced-marry-King.html

Unearthed: The lost memoir of Edward VIII that reveals the truth about him and Wallis Simpson... and how he was convinced he could marry her and be King

By Jane Marguerite Tippett

Published: 01:19, 26 October 2023 | Updated: 08:00, 26 October 2023

'On a dank, cold and very foggy night in early January 1931, I first met the Duchess at a mutual friend's house in Melton Mowbray...'

The words are those of the Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII before his abdication, and he is recalling how, as Prince of Wales, he was introduced to Mrs Simpson, the woman for whose love he would sensationally give up the crown.  I was immediately impressed with her vivaciousness, wit and smart repartee. I particularly admired her complete frankness.  If she did not agree with anyone, she said so, and I found this rarely, due to the circumstances of my position, especially among my British friends.'

Edward was spilling out his secrets his heart even to an eminent American journalist, Charles Murphy, who had persuaded the former king that, after more than a decade of silence, the time had come for him to tell his side of the abdication story for a series of articles in Life magazine and subsequently a book.  From July 1947 until January 1951, Edward and Murphy were in each other's company on an almost daily basis, much of it in the exotic setting of the Windsors' white-washed villa, Chateau de la La Croe, on Cap d'Antibes on the French Riviera.  Murphy discovered almost immediately that the former monarch needed to 'learn the habits of work'.

He also needed to be taught how to reminisce because his perspective on his multitude of exceptional experiences was, apart from a general sense of grievance that had dogged his years of exile, 'less than penetrating', Murphy observed.

Murphy saw his task as helping Edward find a voice. Deciding not to conduct direct interviews, his technique was to suggest topics and invite Edward to talk about them — much like a schoolmaster encouraging a recalcitrant child.  Edward started by exploring his assigned subjects through monologues that were recorded in shorthand by a secretary, but later went on to write down his recollections at length.  Years later, Murphy lodged his papers at Boston University, which is where I unearthed them box upon box of notes and memos, including Edward's own first drafts scrawled on yellow legal pads, much of which never made it into the Life articles or the subsequent book.  Here was, in effect, the lost memoir of Edward VIII, the authentic and unheard voice of the man who had once been King. It throws new light on how and why he chose to abdicate rather than live without the only woman he ever loved. It tells Edward's story as he saw it, lived it and remembered it.  His failures, weaknesses, naivety and flaws are on full display but so, too, are his intelligence, his loyalty, his love and his resolve.  It is, for the first time, Edward's story.  For all Edward's protestations of instant attraction to Wallis, the details of their first meeting are a matter of dispute.  Her recollection to Murphy was that the 37-year-old Edward 'hardly spoke to me' that time in Melton Mowbray.

Then, when they met two months later at a reception, she recalled overhearing him say to the hostess, who was his mistress at the time, 'Didn't I meet that woman somewhere?' 'He never looked at me,' she told Murphy. 'Can't believe that, darling,' said Edward, who was listening to the discussion.

Whatever the precise truth, the fact is that, keen to throw off the stuffiness of court life, he was soon seeking her company at every opportunity.  'I was a bachelor, alone, tired. She and her husband Ernest had an apartment [in Marylebone] and served as good food as anywhere in London. She had a host of friends and the conversations were gay, witty and intelligent.'

One of those friends was Bernard Rickatson-Hatt, editor-in-chief of Reuters News, who thought her 'attractive and smart' and an 'extremely capable hostess', transplanting the glamorous life of Park Avenue in New York to central London.  He remembered seeing the Simpsons' apartment overflowing with flowers from Fort Belvedere, Edward's home in Windsor Great Park, and Wallis wearing expensive jewels he had given her.  'His days at court are filled with stuffed shirts. He comes here to be amused,' was Wallis's explanation for his growing presence in the Simpson menage.

According to Rickatson-Hatt, her husband Ernest 'grasped what was going on but as a loyal Englishman was reluctant to make an issue of the situation'.

Edward was soon besotted. He told Murphy: 'She satisfied something creative in me. She brought into my life something not there before: curiosity, independence, impudence, questioning, warmth. I saw things in a new light.'

In staccato notes, he explained: 'Fell in love with the Duchess two years before abdication. It happened in restaurant, no frivolous business, age on my side. I had sowed my wild oats. Made lots of mistakes, in [a] superficial way.  I knew I was falling in love with another man's wife. When found myself falling in love should have withdrawn. But remarkable business about love is that it happens before one knows it.'

With bullet-point precision, titled by Murphy as 'HRH's Description of Duchess', Edward listed Wallis's defining characteristics in pencil on two pieces of Waldorf Astoria memo paper:

    Very proud
    Independent
    Demanding of highest standards of conduct
    Inflexible code of behaviour
    Strict
    Exacting
    Elusive
    Chic
    Must have the best
    Very sensitive
    Easily hurt
    Great sense of dignity
    Perfectionist to the extent of wearing herself out.

That she was American was a major attraction. The prince had visited the U.S. and the experience transformed him.  He recalled: 'Among well-born Englishmen there was an inclination to look down on Americans as rather loud, pushy upstarts. But when I went there on a tour, it took my breath away. Men lived more freely. They were not afraid to speak to me or tell me what they thought because I was a prince. '

Created Prince of Wales on his 16th birthday, just seven weeks after his father became King, he had spent 26 years creating a 'modern version' of an ancient office.  His 'Prince of Wales,' he said, was not the 'reproduction of my grandfather's top-hatted geniality. I became a spokesman of the rising generation a restless, pushing iconoclastic generation'.

But keen as he was to re-invent the monarchy for a more democratic age, he was faced with a father, George V, who, as Edward wrote, insisted: 'Remember your position and who you are.'

'This remark of my father's was disturbing. How different was I really? Through school, college and the war, I had certainly discovered my shortcomings.  'Not only was I not better than other people, the fact was I possessed no outstanding qualifications to set me up above my contemporaries. Now I was being launched on a career in public life not of my choosing which was going to make me seem more different from other people than ever. But life had to be something more than driving down lined streets with uplifted hat and ready smile.  'I decided I would act as differently from other people as was required of me when on show but that 'off duty' I would work out my own life along the lines of my tastes and inclinations. I would seek informality to observe all ceremonial punctiliously but to dispense with it whenever I could and it seemed out of place.'

As his loathing grew for the remoteness and aloofness of his royal life, increasingly Wallis was indispensable to him. In his eyes, she was also the measure of how free he really could be.  'The choice confronting me was a bitter one. While there was no desire in my heart to shirk my inheritance, the desire to marry and make a full life with the woman of my choice was equally strong. To live without love would have been intolerable. And, more than that, without it my service to the state would have seemed an empty thing.'

With his father's death in January 1936, Edward became King. At the State Funeral there was a poignant private moment, an indication of everything that lay ahead. He recalled: 'Only once during that seemingly endless procession did my eyes stray from the coffin or the slowly marching figures surrounding me.  A swift scan of the windows of the second floor of a certain building rewarded me with a fleeting glance of recognition, of comfort and understanding of the mental and physical strain it was mine to bear that sad day.'

Just a glimpse of Wallis meant that much to him. The fact was that since early 1934 she had occupied a dominant role in his life. By the time of his accession, her marriage to Ernest Simpson was over in all but name, and rumours swirled in London society about her relationship with the King.  But, although Edward made it clear he was not going to give up Wallis, nor was he about to relinquish the throne if he didn't have to. Edward's solicitor, George Allen, told Murphy: 'He was bent upon marrying her and making her Queen and being crowned together.  He hated Buckingham Palace and much of the royal existence. But at the same time he yearned to be King. At the outset there was no question of abdication. He took the job on with the hope of marrying her. He wanted the divorce secure and everything in preparation so they could be married before the Coronation.'

Edward told Murphy: 'What was really at stake was my right as King to a private life, to an independent existence, to 'a life outside the office'.' Implicit in his drive to modernise the monarchy was establishing the King's freedom to marry whomever he wished.  He resisted the idea that the monarch should hide all personal feeling in the pursuit of royal duty. To him, kingship was a career. From the outset of his reign, he expressed a determination to separate his public role from his private world a division he had successfully maintained as Prince of Wales.   To his adviser, Walter Monckton, he declared shortly after his father's death: 'I refuse to become a prisoner of the past. I must have a private life of my own.'

His father's Private Secretary, Sir Clive Wigram, quickly disabused him of this notion. 'Sir, you are quite mistaken. The King has no private life whatever.'

But Edward chose to ignore Wigram's warning. 'I was suspicious of courtiers' advice,' he told Murphy. 'But this made for trouble.'

He was on track for the clash with the British Establishment that would eventually cost him his throne.  One woman who did not address the mounting speculation about Mrs Simpson was Queen Mary.  'Mother never mentioned W's name,' Edward told Murphy. 'This was curious for she knew about all my other flirtations, often chided, sometimes teased me about them. Perhaps she believed my bachelorhood permanent; or that my becoming King would sober me.  But, an observant woman, she must have noticed a change in my outlook as attachment [to Wallis] deepened. My outlook was more serious, life stabler. Instead, she was silent. This, coupled with inflexible opposition to divorce, meant she disapproved.  The fact that I did not marry bothered her. On my 30th birthday [in 1924] she raised the question tentatively, but I dodged it, saying I had not met anyone I loved and I absolutely refused to enter into a marriage of convenience.'

In an essay entitled Family, Edward expanded on these sentiments: 'I had developed an abhorrence of arranged marriages for they were no guarantee of private happiness, which to me was the essential and basic element of existence in this world.  I had seen too many unhappy marriages amongst my contemporaries and had admired those who found greater happiness with a divorce more than those who chose the path of conventional pretence to a life [of] matrimonial misery.  But royalty lived in the fierce glare of publicity and presence of the State. There was no loophole for unhappy royal marriages or divorce as a merciful release. Once you took the step it was a life sentence and that I could not contemplate.  Of course there have been many happy marriages of convenience, my brother George's as a fine example. But it all depends on one's make-up and mine just wasn't that sort.  My abhorrence of the system and my fear of getting trapped and losing my freedom until I had found the right person the 'right' person for me without regard to any other consideration became strongly engrained in me. I was determined to wait until I really fell in love.'

At the end of the summer of 1936, Wallis joined Edward at Balmoral in a group that included the Duke and Duchess of Kent, Lord and Lady Louis Mountbatten and the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. Her presence was controversial and overshadowed the aristocratic tenor of the gathering.  Even Winston Churchill, usually sympathetic to the King, deplored 'Mrs Simpson going to such a highly official place'. Adding to the contention was Edward's insistence that she be named in the Court Circular as one of his guests.  In an essay he wrote for Murphy entitled Notes On The Hypocritical British Attitude Toward Divorce, he asserted: 'I could have camouflaged her presence and catered to gossiping tongue-wagging by merely stating 'The King is entertaining a few friends at the Castle'.  It was my honesty, my chivalry and my good manners that offended in certain quarters, whereas duplicity and camouflage would have satisfied my hypocritical critics.'

But the stay at Balmoral proved a critical milestone in testing public and official appetite for his relationship with Wallis, not least in bringing the British Press into the equation.  Edward would later conclude that he had not handled this well.  In my childhood,' he wrote, 'the Royal Family had remained outside the ravenous appetites of the daily Press. I have come to believe that one of the most unfortunate aspects of the crisis which before long burst around me was the long censorship which the British Press in this connection imposed upon itself.  As a result, when the facts were finally presented to the British people they came in a lightning burst. In the first shock of revelation, much that was human and honourable was seamed by scandal and twisted by politics. The people were staggered. Whether the eventual outcome would have been different had they known earlier what was involved, I cannot say; nor am I inclined to speculate, for what was done is done, and I am no longer King.  But this I do believe: that had the facts seeped out during the summer of 1936, the frightful blow-up of constitutional politics in the winter might never have come to pass; or had a crisis been inevitable, the cleavages might have been resolved without so heavy a legacy of bitterness.  But I was myself to blame in no small measure for this misjudgment; and the ordeal which was to break around me, shattering my world.'

With Mrs Simpson's divorce from her husband going through the courts and speculation mounting about the King's intentions towards her once she was free, matters came to a head.  Edward summoned the prime minister, Stanley Baldwin, to tell him he was determined on 'marriage and a home with the woman I loved'.

'The instant he entered my room, I realised from his demeanour that I would not get what I wanted. Baldwin confirmed that neither his Cabinet nor the Dominions would be willing to support Wallis as Queen.  Three options remained: to give up the marriage, to marry against the advice of his ministers or to abdicate.'

Baldwin told Edward he 'prayed' for the first of these three outcomes. But for Edward 'the idea of abandoning W was so preposterous that I would not even dignify his prayer with a rejection.  I decided if I could not remain under my conditions, I would not stay. I would abdicate.'

In a last search for an alternative Edward turned to his and Wallis's friend Duff Cooper, Secretary of State for War.  He urged Edward 'to steer away from all risk of an immediate collision with Baldwin. He said the question of my marrying W could not arise until her divorce became absolute and, meanwhile, Baldwin could not press me on the constitutional issue.  Duff in substance said, 'Be patient. You are to be crowned in May. Say nothing now; let the people get used to you as King. You should then be able to marry on your own terms'.'

But Duff, Edward told Murphy later, 'didn't understand the curious position of the King in the Coronation ceremony; a sanctified person; Head of Church; taking a sacrament'.

He had 'no intention of going through this, then springing on an unsuspecting public a plan to marry a divorced woman. Had I followed Duff's advice, the subsequent course of events might well have been radically altered and I might even still be King and W my Consort.  However, I could not bring myself to adopt the course of action he recommended.  I did not possess the subtlety and patience to play so tricky a game. It would have required my resorting to a subterfuge on a matter affecting the highest and most delicate sentiments of the British people.  Duff's opportunistic approach also overlooked the anomaly of my dual function as not just Head of State, but also Head of the Church of England. As Head of State, I was technically free to marry whoever I pleased. But as Head of the Church, I was under restraints which were nonetheless powerful for being unwritten.'

Few have credited Edward's belief in the sacred nature of the Coronation as the real reason for his unwillingness to pursue Cooper's suggested subterfuge. Instead, it has been interpreted as a suitable excuse for a man now committed to escaping his high office.  Yet Edward returned to the point repeatedly. Though admitting he was not a religious man, he could 'never have brought myself to submit to the Coronation Service with the secret intention of later on marrying under circumstances at variance with the doctrines I would have sworn to uphold'.

The ceremony would also have entailed him taking, very publicly, the sacrament of communion which Wallis, as a divorcee, was not allowed. This hypocrisy, he declared, did not suit. He told Murphy: 'I would not wish to take that which my wife was denied.'

    Once A King by Jane Marguerite Tippett (Hodder & Stoughton, £25) is published today. © Jane Marguerite Tippett 2023. To order a copy for £22.50 (offer valid until November 6, 2023; UK P&P free on orders over £25) go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937.

WACKY AND WISTFUL: LIFE OF A DEMENTIA-IMPACTED COUPLE

By Saralee Perel

There is absolutely nothing funny about dementia.  Or is there?

While I was sound asleep at 3 a.m. last night, my sweet dementia-impaired husband, Bob, shook me awake and said, "Are you sleeping okay?"

"Yes, honey. I'm sleeping fine."

As we all know, people with dementia forget what they say.   So, at 4 a.m. I was once again roused from sleep: "Are you sleeping okay?"

"Fine, dear."

At 5 a.m. when he asked again, I reacted, "Yes, for goodness sake!"

At 6, I responded: "Are you kidding me?"

At 7, I said, beyond exasperated, "You're waking me up every lousy hour with that same inane question!"

"What question?"

Seething, I reminded him: "Are you sleeping okay!?!"

"Yes," he said, "I'm sleeping fine."

Wait for it.  He had to add, "Are *you* sleeping okay?"

I resisted the urge to smother him with my pillow.  Now, please don't get annoyed with me. I'm not making fun of everyone with dementia. I am making fun of Bob.  I'll tell you; I hate myself when I act irritated. I'm trying, though unsuccessfully so far, to learn that caregivers are only human and that I'm not alone in reacting like a crab at times.  Bob has the same kind of dementia that Bruce Willis has, which is Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) with the progressive variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA), which is essentially a disorder of communication: finding words, understanding words, speaking words. I learned about Mr. Willis' diagnosis as well as his courageous family's support, upon reading the CNN Health website.   This diagnosis is lethal; it's heartbreaking, and it upends lives.   You see, my husband was brilliant. Once, he achieved the miraculous feat of being a contestant on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? back when Regis Philbin was the host. Bob won a seat as a contestant over thousands of callers that night by answering rapid-fire questions. One was: Name the five youngest presidents in order of their birth, starting with the youngest.   Yet now, he can't add one plus one.  This is a man who won 24 blue ribbons at the County Fair for his cookies, breads, and muffins. Although he no longer bakes, I decided one recent day that maybe we could bake his award-winning lemon coconut cookies together. That had to be the saddest day of my life. I had him wear his big, goofy chef's hat and his funny-looking apron with frills, lace, and pictures of utensils.  I had all the ingredients on the kitchen counter. He looked carefully at the flour, the yeast, the bowls of shredded coconut and lemons. But he just stood there, looking. Out loud, I read from his recipe: "Mix the juice of 2 lemons with 1 cup of coconut … "

but he couldn't understand what I was saying.  Trying to be encouraging, I said, "Why don't you pick up a lemon and cut it in half?"

He just stared at the counter. Motionless, confused. He had no idea what a lemon was.  "That's okay, sweets," I said.

I added the flour to the big bowl and handed him the spoon. "How about you stir everything together?"

His eyes fill with tears.  He did not know what a spoon was for.  This award-winning, blue-ribbon maestro of a baker has forgotten my name.  Bob built Cape Cod's first community television studio. I mean literally, with hammers and nails. Then, being a media specialist in grad school, he trained aspiring TV hosts how to make a TV show. He was the Director of Cape Cod Cablevision's Channel Eleven for over 20 years.  Bob has no memory of his careers.   Yet there are funny times too. When he reached into our big birdfeeder instead of the mailbox, we laughed out loud.  I keep thinking about our first kiss. We were in the kitchen area of my studio apartment on Cape Cod. He was just about to chug from the milk carton when he said, "Ugh! This milk has gone bad."

I'm Jewish. Bob is not. "Well," I said, thinking quickly, "it's a Jewish tradition to keep sour milk in the fridge to commemorate the suffering of the Jewish people when they spent 40 years in the desert."

Trying to find something to eat, he picked up a half-eaten brick of cheddar cheese. "It's moldy. It's almost all blue!"

"Well," I stammered, "in Hebrew school, we were taught to keep something moldy in the fridge to remind us that everything decays, rots and dies."

"And this?" He was holding a ratty, torn potholder.

"It's a Jewish tradition that -"

He cut me off by raising his hands into a STOP position.  Then the moment seemed to stand still. I was getting oranges out of the fridge. I looked up to see him resting his arms on the top of the opened door. Then I did the most unlike-me thing. *I* kissed *him*.  Now, I am a stranger to Bob. I feel desperate. I miss my best friend. I miss brownie parties in the middle of the night. I miss birthdays and hot fudge sundaes at the ice cream parlor where he always gave me his cherry.  Last week I met my friend, Marilee, at a restaurant in Hyannis, near our home. After our lunch, we stopped in their bakery where I saw a luscious chocolate croissant that Bob would have loved. But I said to Marilee, "Two minutes after he eats it, he'll just forget about it completely."

I paused that thought. Then said, "But he'll have those two minutes of joy."

So I bought it. Bob loved it. And that fleeting joy was a breathtaking moment in time.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12513251/Boy-German-river-NOT-missing-Ben-Needham-DNA-tests-reveal.html

Boy found in German river is NOT missing Ben Needham, DNA tests reveal

    The two-year-old's family have been informed of the development, police said

By Elena Salvoni

Published: 12:20, 13 September 2023 | Updated: 13:08, 13 September 2023

The little boy found in a German river is not missing British toddler Ben Needham, DNA tests have revealed.  More than 30 years after he went missing on the Greek island of Kos, British police last week confirmed they were looking into whether an unidentified child found in the River Danube might be Ben.  Hopes were raised in the search for answers when Interpol announced that the remains, found in May 2022, likely belonged to a child from outside the country.  But Ben's family has now been told that the child's DNA does not match his, which had been sent for comparison.  The development is bound to be devastating for Ben's mother Kerry, who has been searching for her son since he vanished while playing at his grandparents' farmhouse in July 1991.  In a statement, police said: 'South Yorkshire Police, supported by Europol, has received confirmation that a DNA sample of the body found in the River Danube in Germany does not match that of Ben Needham.  Ben's family has been informed and are being supported. Our thoughts remain with the young boy who is yet to be identified and, of course, the Needham family who continue in their search for answers.'

The boy police recovered from the Danube is believed to have been aged five or six.  He was found wrapped in foil and weighed down with a flagstone slab. It is not known how long the body was in the water.  In the Interpol Black Notice, the organisation said it was 'seeking the public's help in identifying a deceased boy and to determine the suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.'

Interpol also published a graphic reconstruction of the boy's head.  The blue-eyed boy staring out of the photo is described as between five and six years old.  The description went on: 'The boy is thought to be aged between five and six. He was approximately 110 cm (43.3 in) tall and 15 kg (2.36 st), with brown hair and blood type 0.'

The discovery of the unidentified body came more than three decades after Ms Needham's son vanished in Greece on July 24, 1991.  When a picture showing how Ben would look aged 31 was released on July 23, 2021 Ms Needham revealed that she did not believe the police theory that he was killed by a digger.  The image was created by National Crime Agency listed forensic artist Tim Widden.  Ms Needham said 'we must keep searching' ahead of the 30th anniversary of his disappearance on July 24, 1991.

Police believe Ben died on the day he went missing as a result of an accident involving 'heavy machinery' as he played outside his grandparent's house, but his mother believes her son could still be alive.  She told the Daily Mirror in 2021: 'I still have that hope that South Yorkshire Police are wrong.  'And while there is no evidence to show me, I have to believe he is still alive. There's not a single thread of evidence to say otherwise.'

CHURCH BULLETIN BLOOPERS
Part 5

~ This one I said myself during the congregational prayer when leading prayer for our unsaved loved ones: Father, we just want to pray for our unloved saved ones.

~ Please welcome Pastor Don, a caring individual who loves hurting people.

~ Come out this evening for a time of prayer and sinning.

~ A woman's blouse was found at a table in the middle of the servant appreciation dinner. If you lost your blouse, please come to the church office.

~ Overeaters Anonymous meeting will be held at 8 pm in the large room.

~ The ladies in the style show will meet with their dresses down in front after morning worship.

~ A worm welcome to all who have come today.

~ Sermon Outline:
I. Delineate your fear
II. Disown your fear
III. Displace your rear

~ Next Friday we will be serving hot gods for lunch.

~ If you would like to make a donation, fill out a form, enclose a check and drip in the collection basket.

~ Nov. 11: An evening of boweling at Lincoln Country Club.

~ Women's Luncheon: Each member bring a sandwich. Polly Phillips will give the medication.

~ Karen's beautiful solo: "It is Well with my Solo"

~ Congratulations to Tim and Rhonda on the birth of their daughter October 12 thru 17.

~ If you choose to heave during the Postlude, please do so quietly.

~ We are grateful for the help of those who cleaned up the grounds around the church building and the rector.

~ Hymn: "I Love Thee My Ford"

~ Sign-up sheet for anyone wishing to be water baptized on the table in the foyer.

~ Newsletters are not being sent to absentees because of their weight.

~ Helpers are needed! Please sign up on the information sheep.

~ The Advent Retreat will be held in the lover level of St. Mary's Cathedral.

~ The District Duperintendent will be meeting with the church board.

>>>Today's Thot

Is it ignorance or apathy that's destroying the world today? I don't know and don't really care.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12356241/murdere-timeline-Lucy-Letby.html

The making of a serial killer: From student nurse to ruthless murderer, a full timeline of the horrific crimes Lucy Letby committed in plain sight ending with her conviction as the most prolific child killer in modern day Britain

    Timeline sets out chilling detail of nurse Lucy Letby's horrific crimes

By Nigel Bunyan

Published: 09:33, 19 August 2023 | Updated: 11:07, 19 August 2023

This is the full, shocking timeline of the year Lucy Letby spent killing babies on the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital.  Beginning with her enrolment as an 18-year-old student nurse at the city's university, it details the horrific crimes she committed in 'plain sight' of colleagues who trusted her as one of their own.  Letby is seen to repeatedly betray both nurses and doctors alike, and to exploit the vulnerability and trust of the parents whose infants she was meant to be caring for.  The narrative ends with her conviction and incarceration as a serial killer, together with the revelation that police are now investigating the possibility that she attacked other infants earlier in her career.

Here, NIGEL BUNYAN looks back at the full timeline following the end of the trial:

2008

September

Lucy Letby, a quiet, innocuous 18-year-old from Hereford, moves to Chester to begin a three-year nursing degree. It is the career she mapped out for himself while a student at Hereford Sixth Form College.

2008

September

Lucy Letby, a quiet, innocuous 18-year-old from Hereford, moves to Chester to begin a three-year nursing degree. It is the career she mapped out for himself while a student at Hereford Sixth Form College.  She is three years behind another student at the college, the singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding.  Years later, when she is nine months into her killing spree, Letby will attend one of Goulding's concerts at the Liverpool Arena. During her time at university she will go on work experience at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

2011

September

The future killer finishes her degree and qualifies as a Band 5 nurse.

2012

January

Letby starts work at the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital. She's living in nurses' accommodation at Ash House, within the hospital site, and qualifies as a mentor to new students 'fairly early on'. Just over a decade later she will tell a jury that she 'really enjoyed that aspect'. It will emerge after her trial that this is one of the years police are now investigating as part of a new inquiry into her activities.

2014

March 15

She goes to live alone in a flat belonging to one of her colleagues. She will be there until June 1, 2015.

2015

This is the second of the two years Cheshire Police are now investigating in the aftermath of the trial.

March/April

In court she will tell her barrister, Ben Myers KC, that from this point on her time is spent 'predominantly' looking after the sickest babies on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester.  At some point in the year Letby spends time at Liverpool Women's Hospital. Her time there is now being investigated as part of the new investigation.

May 31

Baby G, the most premature of the babies in the indictment, is born at Arrowe Park Hospital. She weighs 1lb 2oz and has a gestation of 23 weeks and 6 days. Letby will tell Mr Myers: 'She stood out as a baby who had complex needs and was a very premature baby.'

June 1

Letby moves back into Ash House. She'll remain there until moving into her semi-detached house in Westbourne Road, Chester, in April 2016. Her sadistic killing spree on the neonatal unit is about to begin.

June 5-7

Letby is in York on a hen party for her friend and nursery nurse on the unit Jennifer Jones-Key. A number of other Countess of Chester nurses are on the trip. They travel by train and end up drinking cocktails in Revolution Bar.

June 7

8.31pm: Baby A, a boy, is born a few moments ahead of his twin sister, Baby B. He is in good condition.

June 8

Letby has returned to work after the trip to York. Today she will claim the life of her first victim, Baby A.

5pm: Paediatric registrar David Harkness inserts a long line so Baby A can be fed the fluids he needs.
8pm: Baby A has been alive for almost a day. Up to now he has been looked after by Melanie Taylor. He is stable. Now Nurse Taylor hands over care to Lucy Letby and together they start the fluids via the long line.
8.26pm: Baby A collapses and Letby calls Dr Harkness over to his incubator. The infant is deteriorating rapidly. Resuscitation procedures are started and adrenaline is given to stimulate his heart. Harkness is joined by Ravi Jayaram and both notice an odd discolouration on the baby's skin, with flitting patches of pink over blue that seem to appear and disappear. Neither has previously seen such discolouration. The medics try desperately to save the baby's life, but none of the techniques that would normally help revive a baby are working.
8.58pm: Baby A is pronounced dead. He has died within 90 minutes of Letby coming on duty. Nick Johnson KC, prosecuting, said: 'That it is a hallmark of some of the cases in which Lucy Letby injected air into the circulations of some of these small babies'.

June 9

In the aftermath of Baby A's death Melanie Taylor sends a WhatsApp message to Letby: 'I hope you are OK, you were brilliant'.

Letby, though, is due to begin a night shift and is already thinking of killing the infant's twin, Baby B.

11.50pm: Letby's friend and colleague Nurse A is looking after Baby B. Shortly before midnight it's noted that her blood/oxygen levels have fallen to 75 per cent and the Cpap nasal prongs attached to her nostrils have become dislodged. Nurse Nurse A repositions the baby's head and the prongs and gives her additional oxygen.

June 10

12.16am: Letby takes Baby B's blood gases even though she's not her designated nurse.
12.30am: Baby B's alarm sounds and Letby calls Nurse A over to the incubator. The baby has stopped breathing and a crash call is put out. It is about 28 hours since Baby B's brother has died.

Letby's nursing colleague notices purple blotches and white patches all over the infant's body. Baby A is intubated and makes a quick recovery. The skin discolouration has reduced by the time the on-call consultant, Doctor B, arrives. She notes loops of gas in the baby's bowel.  When Dewi Evans, the prosecution's main medical expert, comes to review the case three years later he concludes that Baby B has been sabotaged both before and after midnight. Her airways may have been blocked and she may have had air injected to her bloodstream.  Professor Kinsey, a blood expert, says an injection of air into a vein can cause blood to cross from one side of the heart to the other without being oxygenated through the lungs. This would lead to the changes in skin colour seen by the medics. No blood disorder would account for Baby B's sudden deterioration.  Baby B continues to recover and will be discharged on July 9 and is now aged eight. She lives abroad with her parents.

3.31pm: On the same day Baby B has collapsed Baby C is born. His mother is a GP.

June 11

5.46pm: Letby is pressing to return to the 'front line' of Nursery 1, where the most vulnerable of babies are generally cared for. She messages one of her bosses, Yvonne Griffiths, to say: 'I think from a confidence point of view I need to take an ITU baby soon x'
9.48pm: Letby to Jennifer Jones-Key: 'I just keep thinking about Mon. Feel like I need to be in 1 to overcome it but E (Eirion Powell, unit manager) said no x'

June 13

11pm: Nurse Sophie Ellis is in Nursery 1 giving Baby C his first feed of milk. She then goes briefly to the nurses' station where she hears Baby O's monitor go off. She returns to find Letby already in the room standing beside his cot. The killer says 'He's just dropped his HR and saturations: or something similar.'
11.09pm: Letby sends a message about the image of Baby A that she's had in her head from the week before, then says 'sleep well xx'.
11.15pm: Crash call. Senior house officer and the registrar, Katherine Davis, respond. Katherine tries three times to intubate him. She can't do because his vocal chords are swollen and blocking the route. They're 'stuck and swollen' before her first attempt. John Gibbs, one of the leading consultants, is called in and manages the intubation.

The attempts to save Baby C cross over into June 14.

June 14

5.58am: Despite a prolonged resuscitation they can't save him and C is pronounced dead.
8.48am: Letby to Jennifer Jones: 'I was struggling to accept what happened to Baby A. Now we've lost Baby C overnight & it's all a bit much. X'
8.57am: Letby again: 'Baby C is the little 800g baby, went off very suddenly, Sophie was looking after him. I know it happens but it's still so sad & cruel isn't it x'…
9.25am: Letby to her mum: 'We lost a little one overnight. Very unexpected and sad xxx'
9.41am: Letby to Jennifer Jones: 'I just keep seeing them both. No one should have to see & do the things we do. It's heartbreaking. But it's not about me. We learn to deal with it…'
9.45am: Letby to Jennifer Jones: 'It's not about me or anyone else, it's about those poor Parents who have to walk away without their baby. It's so unbelievably sad…'

Letby messages the news to Nurse A. Her friend urges her to try to sleep, then adds a sympathetic footnote: 'A really tough week for you'.

Mr Johnson will tell the jury that this time air has inserted into the baby's stomach via the NG tube, rather than into the baby's bloodstream. It is, he says, 'a variation or refinement of a theme Lucy Letby had started with the twins (A and B)'.

June 20

4.01am: Baby D is born by C section. She's a full-term baby born in good condition.
4.13am: At 12 minutes she goes floppy in her father's arms. Staff fail to give her antibiotics, then fail again to conduct an immediate review when she shows signs of respiratory distress. Eventually she is moved into Nursery 1. By now she has an infection.

June 21

Baby D is responding to treatment and not expected to deteriorate.

June 22

1.30am, 3am, 3.45am: Baby D suffers three collapses. In the second the infant is particularly distressed and crying. Staff are struck by the sight of mottling, poor perfusion and brown/black discolouration to her skin. Prosecutors say this was caused by Letby injecting air into her bloodstream while the baby's designated nurse, Caroline Oakley, was out of the room.
3.45am: As she collapses again Baby D is given CPR.
4.21am: Baby D can't be saved and treatment is withdrawn. She is pronounced dead four minutes later.

Medical expert Dr Sandie Bohin will tell Letby's trial Baby D was injected with air on one or more occasions. Between 3 and 5 mg/kg is enough to kill.  The paediatrician highlights D's heightened distress during her second collapse and says that in published cases of air embolus the patient suffers 'extreme distress and terror prior to collapse signs demonstrated by D'.

June 30

9.49pm: Nurse A messages Letby: 'There's something odd about that night and the other 3 that went so suddenly'.

Letby responds: 'What do you mean?'

Nurse A: 'Odd that we lost 3 and in different circumstances ignore me, I'm speculating'.

In the days after Baby D's death senior staff identify the first tenuous connection between Letby's presence and inexplicable collapses on the neonatal unit.  Lead consultant Stephen Brearey has been so concerned by the three deaths and one near-fatal collapse that he's asked Eirian Powell, the nursing manager, to carry out a review in the hope of identifying possible issues. She analyses which staff have been on duty at the relevant times, while also looking at such factors as incubator space and micro-biology.  Dr Brearey will tell Mr Myers: 'We were learning from every case we reviewed. (But) they were just pointers. They didn't always explain why these babies collapsed'.