Nearly 80

My lovely cousin, Freda, came to visit us today. She lives in Sunderland.

On December 15th she will have her 80th birthday so I suggested/persuaded/insisted that she have a birthday portrait. She was all ready to go to the train home, but graciously removed her hat and coat for me.

When she had relaxed and thought I was finished I made this image. It's lovely to see her laughing. She has a sister with Parkinson's and dementia who is in a Nursing Home. Freda worries about her a lot.

(I won't tell the others, but I think she is my favourite cousin.)

She was 10 when I was born and loved to come and play with me. Nearly all the extended family lived within a mile of each other in the Hendon area of Sunderland.

I was not surprised, but sad, to hear that Aung San Suu Kyi has been sentenced to a prison on what seem to be trumped up charges.