About



I decided to set up a little blog called 'Bobby and John' after my uber-cool grandparents. On their 69th year of marriage, they are the rock under what is my wonderful family.

Bobby (nee Eileen, but her father had hoped for a boy named Robert) and John met during the Second World War. John was a widower with a 9 month old baby, and Bobby, knowing her parents might not be happy with her choosing to marry a man who was about to go off and fight, leaving her with a baby that wasn't hers, eloped (that is very naughty for our family!). Once married, she too had a baby, my mother, who was born in 1944. My grandfather returned wounded from the war (his left hand had to be amputated in North Africa after a close encounter with a land mine), and then ran a POW camp in England. The rest of his career he spent working for a gun manufacturer, which led him to travel the world and meet a lot of very interesting people. Throughout his life his best friend (other than Granny) has been German, and he does not like to talk about the war at all.

My mother and her brother grew up in a happy household, if somewhat noisy. Let it not be said that we are wall-flowers. Everyone has an opinion, every opinion is different, and we all shout over each other to hear it. Perhaps this is why I married the most gentle man on the planet? Honestly, I almost think I've forgotten how to argue until we all get together and the 'discussions' start. Oh and it can be any topic, from who we like best on the X-factor (Louis, what were you thinking?!) to why there were riots and looting in London this summer. Quite often we get 'in our day', which does drive me potty, and I am determined not to spout that out when my children are older, but sometimes it does ring true (that debate needs a whole new post!). Fortunately in our family, this is not divisive. Rare is it to find such a close bond as I have with my siblings, and that is testament to my childhood, my parents, and my wonderful grandparents. (At this stage, I should probably note that I also had great paternal grandparents. Both died when I was in my early teens, so their influence on me has been less, but my grandmother was one of the kindest women alive, and my grandfather was a great entrepreneur. No doubt we all have many of their qualities, I just wish I had known them longer.)

The be-all and end-all to my grandparents is a) their family and b) the next meal they are going to have. To say they are foodies would be a complete understatement. At the age of 92, my grandfather can still recommend restaurants to you across the globe. Seriously, if he has been to that country, it won't be the famous sites that he will remember, but it will be the tiny restaurant in the back of an alleyway with a barman named Guiseppe that does a marvellous moules frites... It should also be added at this point, that everyone remembers them. It can be thirty years since they ate there last, but if you say, 'I'm Bobby and John's granddaughter', you get special treatment and broad smiles (which can be reassuring as some of these characters look like they belong in dark alleyways until the smile breaks on their faces). Grandpa is of course memorable as he only has one hand, but it's more than that. They are just such a great couple. Granny is small, pretty and has a huge personality. Definite sex-appeal, even at 90. She can win over any grumpy waiter, any sulky shop assistant. Men of all ages fall for her. The twinkle in her eyes speaks volumes. And due to the life of travel they have had, she has a plethora of foreign best friends, none of whom she can actually talk to in their mother tongue, yet she can have hour long conversations with them. In amongst all this is grandpa lurking in the corner, getting more and more flustered. Jealousy! Yes, he suffers from the worst green-eyed monster if granny gives any one else the time of day. So, of course, she does it to everyone, just to wind him up. She is so mischievous even at 90, and I hope to God I am the same.

They adore each other, they adore their family and they have made us who we are. I raise a toast to my dearest grandparents, Bobby and John. Artois!