WHAT WAS THE SONG? Mary couldn't quite remember. It was one of Mr Pepper's classics, certainly. A ballad Possibly You Are My Sunshine? What did it matter; the point was the voice. Not Mr. Pepper's she knew what W he sounded like well enough, being one of Easterlea Rest Home's regular afternoon entertainers. No, this voice was new and belonged to a man who had sat down in the chair next to her and started to sing along. She was so stunned - by the way his voice seemed to pour out of him, by its fierce clarity and defiance of age - that she turned to stare.
The man winked at her. Cheeky bugger, thought Mary. It's not entirely clear when this was. Two years ago, maybe three? Timings, the order of things, time in general, can be confusing. But there are some things we know for sure. Mary is Mary Turrell, nearly 80 years old. She had been living at Easterlea Rest Home in Denmead, near Portsmouth, in England, for a little while, when the man with the voice arrived. And his name was Derek Brown.
It's funny, what sticks in the memory. The crystalline moments, mostly from childhood. Like building a telescope with her older brother, Ian. Or hiding in a bombed-out crater in the woods. Or having whooping cough, and the feeling of the crusty sore that developed on her upper lip. Her mother told her not to pick it, but it was so tempting.
Aged five, at primary school in Norbury, south London, Mary started winning races against the boys. When she was seven, a woman turned up on the doorstep, summoned Mary's mother and said, "Your daughter's a bully." Mary had bashed the woman's son in the head with a netball in a string bag. One of the string knots must have got him hard in the forehead, as a chunk had been gouged out. Well, the boy had been picking on Ian. She wasn't going to let it lie.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 08, 2023-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 08, 2023-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Beauty, shock and horror
At the British Museum, Hew Locke places his work alongside art and artefacts plundered by colonisers from the peoples and cultures they destroyed
Sleep on it pon
Everyone wants a good night's rest-but the more you obsess over it, the more elusive it becomes. Anita Chaudhuri enters the nightmarish, data-driven world of orthosomnia
JOURNALIST OR RUSSIAN SPY? THE STRANGE CASE OF PABLO GONZÁLEZ
while reporting on Russia's covert operation to annex Crimea, I spotted a familiar figure. With his muscular build and shiny shaved head, Pablo González was easy to recognise from afar.
'My hero' Worldwide solidarity for Pelicot's courage
She has been hailed as a feminist hero across France, commended for her courage at rallies across the country and applauded by supporters each time she has entered or left the courtroom in the southern city of Avignon.
Revealed The international 'race science' network funded by US tech boss
Group promoting 'dangerous' scientific racism ideology teamed up with German rightwing extremist, secret recordings show
Residents count cost of a climate risk hotspot
Damage to northern region ignites debate in acountry where just 6% are insured against natural disaster
A new England The next coach is German and it really, really doesn't matter
While objectivity has never had much place in English football, Thomas Tuchel's appointment as the new national team coach represents a significant departure in two obvious ways.
Are Earth's carbon sinks collapsing?
Scientists fear that as it heats up, the planet is losing its natural ability to absorb CO2 through oceans, forests and soil
UK is waging proxy war, says Russian ambassador
Moscow's ambassador to London has said the UK is waging a proxy war against Russia while predicting the \"end of Ukraine\".
Small and lethal Adapted drones carrying explosives 'hunt' civilians
Sasha Ustenko has survived three attacks by the Russian drones that stalk the streets of Kherson carrying fragmentation grenades to drop on anything that moves.