Tradition, Mourning, and Cambridge

Tradition
Last Saturday I was involved in my first British Christmas tradition! Ann makes Christmas pudding and fruitcake - both are foods I consider to be unfit for consumption, but the British seem to love it. I just can't handle the combination of chewy fruit, cake, and strong flavour. I haven't tried it in a long time, but there's nothing about it that appeals to me. Besides, she put nuts in the cake so I can't eat it anyway. (whew)

I helped with mixing and scooping the mixture into the bowls for baking and steaming. Ann attended boarding school as a girl and she told me that when the school made fruitcake, each girl took a turn stirring the batter. Part of the tradition is making a wish as you stir, but I forgot about this as I was stirring. As I scooped the last mound of batter into the last bowl, Ann exclaimed, "You forgot to make a wish!" So I poked the spoon around in the bowl a bit and made a wish so my participation in the tradition was complete. I told Lisa my wish while we had dinner in London and she laughed out loud and thought it was a good wish... has to do with accents... Lindsay will know.

Mourning
I received word earlier this week that Carl Klassen, a man who picked up my hitch-hiking Dad when he was 15, eventually led him to Christ, and was his mentor for over 30 years, finally met his Saviour face to face early on Monday morning. He battled various health problems for many years and we've been called to his death bed more than once, only for him to rally yet again and prove the doctors wrong. I'm so thankful that my Dad was able to spend several nights with him in the hospital during his final days - praying, reading the bible, singing - knowing the end was near, but meeting it with rejoicing instead of fear.

Me and Carl the night before I flew to England.
I was going to go to Abbotsford to visit Carl and his wife Sara, but my car broke down and my day fell apart so they came to our house for dinner instead. Always unfailingly generous.

Carl was like a grandpa to me and the loss makes my heart ache. I have never known such a faithful prayer warrior. He called regularly to see how each of us were doing and he would always end the call with prayer, mentioning each member of the family. He prayed boldly in my presence that God would give me a Godly husband and, for his sake, I wish he could have seen that day. Thankfully, he was able to know that David was engaged to a wonderful girl and I know that brought him lots of joy. He was a travelling evengelist and pastor who would show up unannounced when I was a kid, often standing outside our front door doing his immitation of a dog barking and growling; all four of us kids would go running to the door yelling, "It's Pastor Klassen!" He both terrified me and gave me courage with his stories of demonic activity. He remembered comical poems memorized in childhood and would randomly quote them when conversation reminded him of one. We'll miss having him in our family.

Cambridge
This afternoon I booked my train tickets to Cambridge. I'll be there from Friday, November 14 until Tuesday, November 18. I'll be staying with a couple until Sunday night, then I'll transfer to a B&B for two more nights (I considered a hostel but the reviews included words like "shabby", "filthy", "grotty", and "disgusting" so I decided to splurge a little). I decided that since I'm not tied down to a job yet, I might as well stay a bit longer to enjoy the city. I've heard that it's a beautiful place and deserving of a long visit so I'm looking forward to exploring and taking lots of photos.