All about my Mother
A couple of years ago I took my mum to visit Wilfrid Wood, a skilled and humorous sculptor in Hackney who focusses on portraiture. He developed his personal style after making models for the original Spitting Images satire on Channel 4. Now he is furiously producing drawings on paper with oil crayons.
I heard that he was hungry for new subjects especially seniors so I took Mummy for the experience. We went to his house which is quite local and he very warmly welcomed us into the kitchen and gave us cups of tea. I sat in the garden while mummy had her face scrutinised for two hours, with a ten minute breather in the middle. While I was having the same punishment she went and lay on his bed and drifted off surrounded by his drawings of naked men. As anticipated Wilf then revealed two of the most unflattering images of mother and daughter that could be imagined. They get a great response from ‘that’s nothing like you’ to ‘omg that’s so you’. So its warts and all for me and my mum.
This year has been up-and-down for Betty. Last March she was 90 and we had a lovely family get-together just before lockdown started. There were 25 of us to celebrate Since then she's had two new great grandchildren, that she hasn't met. She was 91 last week and celebrated with cakes, cakes and more cakes. Her very kind neighbours bring bottles of wine plates of cooked dinner, they help her in the garden and they get shopping for her. Covid hasn’t changed things for her that much, but we are very sad not to be able to see each other.
She's decided that she's not going to drive anymore, instead she got herself a mobility scooter. She says she likes it more as she’s closer to people, wearing a mask of course)
This week, she has decided to write her life story, and I am gagging to hear it. She's never much wanted to talk about it before and we have had to prize info from her. We know it started in Australia, of which she has nothing good to say but she has a very dry humour and I think her writing will be entertaining. Maybe she will publish it for her next birthday.
- by Ally
