A Moment with my Mum

I had a very powerful moment last night that I would like to share with everyone. A few friends and I went out for a few drinks and ended up at a very cool place at the end of Princes Street. Around 11 pm a band called "The Leads" from Manchester began to play. It was four young guys whose hair styles and general demeanor was a throw back to the sixties. They played mostly covers of danceable songs- you know, real crowd pleasers. The dance floor was packed with a motley selection of people, but mostly young women who confirmed that fashion styles from the past are still in full swing here. The club was dark and classy.

Just as the band started a cover of the Beatles song "I Want to Hold Your Hand" everyone just lost it with excitement, including me. People started screaming and crowding the stage. It was then that I was suddenly flooded with thoughts of my Mum as a teenager and the sense that she was there in the club. She was a massive fan of the Beatles and was one of the screaming girls that you always see in documentaries about the band. And here I was forty some years later, having the same reaction to the Beatles, just sung by a cover band! It makes me so happy to be in a sense walking in her shoes.

I also started to think about a story she told me many times when I was growing up. Her best friend Manuella's father owned a warehouse in Edinburgh. It had an empty basement that my Mum and Manuella decided to turn into a dance club. They spent ages painting and finding furniture and creating just the right atmosphere inside. Their club was a hit from the first weekend it opened. All their friends came and they brought their friends who brought their friends. Mum told me that they played a lot of Beatles music in that club and it was a great success. However the fun didn't last too long. A fire marshal caught wind of what was going on in that basement and closed it down due to not adhering to regulations. Mum and Manuella never thought of that! For those of you who experienced or heard about the dance floor and cow print in the basement of our house in Midnapore, you probably can understand why my Mum was so agreeable in letting my brother Ben transform it in the first place.

Two years since my Mum passed away is coming up on June 12 and I suspect I will have more and more moments like last night in the near future. I welcome them with open arms. It is so strange how random moments, songs and people can have such a powerful effect on memory and the ability to connect you to people who are no longer here. Thanks for joining in on the fun last night Mum!