F & F

So I'll explain F&F. F&F are my cherished Aunt Fiona and Uncle Frank. When my sister and I were little and it was our family who was doing the Canada-Australia jaunt, Uncle Frank and Aunt Fiona were the highlights of our stay. They’re the kind of cool aunt and uncle who would do things like take us away on overnight trips in their camper van (that’s Aussie for trailer), hitting the local fairs and attractions and letting us sleep on the beach. Uncle Frank would create elaborate scavenger hunts with rhyming clues at each location and a prize for each player at the end. He even used his camcorder and editing skills to make a movie with us in it (this is starting to sound creepy, but it’s totally not!) complete with location shoots and trick cinematography. They are responsible for some of my most favourite childhood memories.

The little surprise I mentioned is about Fiona. Fiona is a gifted storyteller. She could recount a trip to the bank and have you at the edge of your seat. She is also an amazing singer. Sometimes at family gatherings we are able to talk her into giving us a song and the results are always mesmerizing. So it's always the best when I can get her to tell the story about her aunt living in England and then sing the accompanying song. The story goes that seven year old Fiona was sent on a trip from Scotland where she lived to England to visit her aunt. Her aunt, who was married to an Englishman and incredibly homesick for Scotland, taught Fiona this song so she could go home and sing it to her mother, Fiona’s grandmother. It’s a lovely, wistful little song, the theme of which I can certainly relate to, and it brings me to tears every time.

So what I’ve done, you see, is I’ve taught Sarah the song. I’m going to attempt to get Sarah to sing it for Fiona and I’m also going to attempt to get it on video. As you can see, there are a lot of variables. Starting with child performances. Sarah will sing it fine for me now, but who knows if she’ll do it in front of a bunch of people most of whom she hasn’t seen in a very long time. It’s a crap shoot. But I figure it’ll be fun to try. I’ll let you know how it goes…