in the juke box of life the tunes that we remember can connect us to people, places and times gone by. We remember the music from the big events, a love song, the first dance, and the song we play as we say goodbye for the last time.  Then there are the other tunes, those we don’t remember at all until we hear them again, and then we are suddenly singing, somehow knowing long, lost, lyrics.

This morning  I am driving along the busy road beside the sea, on my way to work. The sky is pink and orange as the sun begins to chase away the night on a winter morning.  I am listening to the radio, to an episode of a radio drama with very distinctive theme music.  Whenever I hear this music I am back in our family home, hearing this tune from my Nina’s room.  Her huge wireless was her connection to the world, she didn’t watch TV but loved this drama, billed as an everyday story of country folk. As children we knew not to disturb her listening.  It was many years later that I too became a fan of this programme, and I had no idea what it would lead to.

You see, it was my love of this radio programme that took me through the best sliding door, for there on the other side I met the man I would marry.  He also loved this radio show, and now almost thirteen years on, we both still listen, me in the car and him at home on a Sunday morning.

So, this tune is filed in my memory bank several times over.  A tune from childhood, when the my world was small and safe, and later the key to a future I had never imagined.  It was played at our wedding, as we left the venue together, followed by friends and family, the familiar, dum di dum di dum di dum, well it made everyone smile.