Young Britannia - Mungo Mary & the Clas-gu*
The City of Glasgow
What follows is the email correspondence between myself, and the teenage daughter of a Scottish couple I met whilst on board the QM2 (en route to New York last year). Because I haven’t asked author’s permission to publish her private correspondence, I have decided for the purposes of this post, to name her Mary.
Mary’s family and I met whilst on the six day transatlantic crossing, and then we hung out at my loft, which I was renting at the time on Greene Street (SoHo). We ate, we drank, we gabbed, but most of all…we LAUGHED!
hey
i no i emailed like last week,but we were looking at our photagraphs today and we thought of some of the most funny and outrageous moments we had. I know you are not in a great way right now, but I just wanted to let u no that i think u are such a giggle and wherever u are in the world, there must be people with u that should feel lucky to be in ur presence.
Ur last email seemed quite sad and i was wandering if there was anything we could do?
U are more than welcome to come up to Scotland and stay with us if u want. That would not be a problem,it would be a pleasure.
Hope u make it through ur difficult time and still hold on to ur magical way of endearing others!
Mary
xxxx
***
The funny thing is, I had no idea I seemed “quite sad” in the last email. Put simply, it’s just not my style to share my bleak times with people I know. So you can image my surprise, when what I thought had been an upbeat email, elicited such sweet sensitivity and compassion from one so young. It was an empathy that truly shocked and touched me; in no small way because, coincidentally, the email arrived on the weekend of my birthday. Below is the correspondence, which I had previously sent her.
Hey Mary,
Do me a favour, don't read too much poetry…it's bad for your health, seriously!
So, good to hear from you Mary. Once again, so sorry for the late reply; what tends to happen, is that I open my mail in hotmail and then don't log in for a while...so time slips by.
Last year in school eh...my god, you've got so much FUN ahead of you. Have you decided on which uni you wanna go to? - If you are going to university, that is. If you do go, you could always choose Liverpool Uni 'n' be near to your Aunty Cheyelle...hehe...we could tell everyone I'm your, "sista by different mister" to explain the colour anomalies!
On a serious note, how's your Mum? I know your Grand-dad wasn't very well and she left her job...I've been thinking about her a bit lately...is she OK? I suppose the acid test is - is she winding your Dad up? If she is, then she's gonna be just fine.
Okay, I best be going...I've had the most dreadful year...and you know what they say, 'misery loves company' and misery is definitely waiting for me on the completion of the email...but don't worry 'bout me though...I can handle it...I'm ghetto.
Oh...just one more thing. I was sorting out my photo's on my hard-drive the other day and I found this picture of you and your mum. I gotta attach it to this email cos it's sooo funny. The face you are pulling, is the face you pulled every time your parents (but mainly your Mum) did anything that you found even mildly perplexing...and was the sole reason, I kept getting the giggles every time I looked at you! - This shot is particularly funny, cos your Mum is trying to work out the alcoholic content of a bottle of sparkling APPLE JUICE - LMFAO!
LoVe n DAT...
Cheyelle
ps. How lucky is your Brother! You wanna mind out he don't fall in love with one of them Harlem ghetto girls...cos I always say, 'yeah maybe black don't crack, you know what, beige don't age!' - Boo yaa..
***
So for this week's Sunday Service, I’m recommending the City of Glasgow (click here for more info on Glasgow). Not for its great rock bands or festivals of which there are many, or for its heritage and architecture for which it is famed, or even because of the reputation of its people – who are said to possess both a “hard edge and wit” and be amongst the most friendliest in the world, or even because they, “keep it real” up there – the travel writer H.V. Morton once dubbing it, “the city of reality.” No, I'm recommending Glasgow for no other reason than Mary. – Mary, the unspoilt youth of today, who unknowingly and quite literally, gave me a better tomorrow
For the record, here's my “real” and heartfelt reply, to Mary’s sweet and unconditional email:
Dearest Mary,
My entire life I have been protected and loved by relative strangers, and I have always maintained that it said more about them than it did about me. If you think me even slightly charming or funny or good to be around, it is because of the lifetime I have had being exposed to incredible people like you and your family. What you see in me, is the good in you reflected back – it's true.
What you wrote in that last email, has lifted me, in more ways than you can possibly imagine. Cos God knows, the bad stuff's easier to believe.
I've been around the block a couple of times and my instinct is, I think I'm gonna be just fine on this occasion. So don't you worry, cos if I do get in a real pickle, I'll be sure to head northward with my ghetto-supa-star self. Thank-you.
I really hope we'll all get to hook-up again soon! - For more jokes and drinks with NASA scientists (hehe).
Take care Mary, cos I got a really good feeling about 2010…xx.
***
Definitive proof, if ever we needed it, that the kids of today are on the whole, really fucking amazing. And moreover, that a city's reputation is built on the inspiring young people that it unleashes into the world.
- Cheyelle
- The City of Glasgow
* Clas-gu - meaning the ‘dear family.'
COPYRIGHT ©2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: CHEYELLE OMAR
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