Turn of Events - Changing the Course of a Life

My Dad at about the time he became a Bevin Boy

I've written before about how I believe in fate - or chance - whatever you want to call it, so this week's blog was right up my street. There have been numerous times in my life when one event has set off a chain of others. I love the way this can happen. As in the film, Sliding Doors, I'm always aware that one decision can send things flying in a different direction. In my case, there has usually been a happy ending.

This morning, pondering on what to write for this post, I spoke to my dad about an incident he'd told me about in his earlier life. I was thinking I might include it in the post. As we talked, I was impressed with his memory of events, the details that had obviously stuck in his mind. In passing, he told me he'd once written it all down and if he could find it he'd send it to me. Half an hour later (after a few blips and phone calls) an email appeared in my inbox. My intention was to include some of the story in my post, but having read it, and been transported back to the 1940s, I took the unprecedented decision to include the piece in its entirety. It was written in 2011, and the only amendments are that he has now been married sixty eight years and has eight great grandchildren, and two step great grandchildren. So here, without further ado is dad's account of a Turn of Events that began in 1943. (With apologies for quality and different sizes - they were sent as PNG files and try as I might, I can't get the images of the pages the same size)

The Reason I am Here by Jill Reidy
Who would have thought That a loose shoe lace Could have caused such a turn of events? The serendipity of a random digit The lace undone That decision To stop and tie While others overtook And sealed their own inevitable fate Is the reason I am here Once a pacifist That eager boy Dreaming of the fight To save his country Initial disappointment A small price to pay For seventy more years A wife and family And a life well lived Scarred knees The only reminders Of a lace untied The decision The lucky pause That changed the course Of a young man's life And the reason I am here

Thanks for reading Jill

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