Wednesday, November 26, 2008

The last of the Mohicans

Aside

Fifty two years ago this little sweetie came into my life. Happy Birthday # 1 son.



Can you keep a secret? Many of us have kept our own secrets but can you keep someone else's secret? When I first came here in 1985 a woman I had just met told me her secret and said nobody else in the area knew so I knew I should keep sthuum. As the years went on and I made close friends I realised how amazed they would be if I told them but I didn't. Then recently we were all together and she told them - quite casually - and you could hear their jaws hit the floor. I couldn't resist reminding her that I had kept her secret for 23 years. Whilst she was at it she admitted her age - rather older than we had been led to believe. And why not?
What about you?


'We dance round in a ring and suppose,
But the Secret sits in the middle and knows.'
Robert Frost 1875-1963

25 comments:

Ms Scarlet said...

You tease!!!!
Sx

Ms Scarlet said...

Oh, and Happy Birthday son no.1...
Sx

Pat said...

Scarlet: sorry:) Thanks on his behalf.

Z said...

Happy Birthday, No 1 son.

My mother once told me a secret about two well-known local people seen kissing behind a hedge by a friend of hers. She swore me to secrecy and I didn't ever tell a soul until, years later, I told the Sage. He said that she had told him at the same time and he hadn't told me either. We've never told anyone else. Both still live here, both still married to their original partners.

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

Another Sagittarian, another Sagittaurian...happy bir'day! I bet he's individualist and odd [which is a good thing to be].

If I'm asked to keep a secret, I do, some I keep so good I forget them too. I have friends who blab so I know how terrible it is when folks don't keep secrets.

Jade of the Jungle said...

What a lovely photo - happy birthday to son #1 from me too!

I am good at keeping big secrets, bloody awful at keeping little ones.

OldLady Of The Hills said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY #1 Son! And Congratulations to you for having him!

I can keep someone elses secret. I am known as very very closed mouth, and I pride myself on people trusting that THEIR swecrets are safe with me.
Sometimes it is exactly what people need at the time. To be able to share it with someone which is a kind of relief for them....Sometimes it is a tiny bit of a burden but most of the time, I try to forget what they have told me.

Did the woman remember that she had told you her swecret 23 years before?

BTW: That is a BEAUTIFUL picture, Pat.

Pat said...

Z: thank you! I can't help wondering if your ma told anyone else. It's a common error to think that if you swear someone to secrecy it's safe but you and the Sage and even moi are quite rare.

GG: he's an individualist alright. And a bit odd come to think of it:)
I'd trust you with my secrets.

Jade: thank you. Sometimes - if you are the sort of person in whom people confide - you have to think before you open your mouth I find.

mw said...

What a wonderful picture, and happy belated birthday to #1 son.

My two best friends married and subsequently divorced and both confided everything to me. It was an experience in learning to keep secrets. I think the best tactic is becoming adroit at changing subjects, or simply steering conversations to safe zones.

It might have been easier to get new best friends.

So, what was your friends secret? :)

Here from Michele...

Pat said...

MW: thank you! I assume the best friends weren't married to each other. That would have been impossible.
Re the secret - nice try but I couldn't possibly say:)

Naomi: Thanks on both counts. Obviously you know that I know you can keep a secret. Without going into details:)
I'm not sure whether she remembered. She looked at me and smiled so I think she certainly remembered then.

Z said...

I'm sure she didn't - she was very trustworthy, but wouldn't have counted telling me as breaking trust because she knew I'd not tell and I and the Sage were family. And evidently neither did the friend who told her, because I never heard a breath of scandal about the two people, and it would have been sensational.

kenju said...

Pat, say happy birthday to your number one son for me.

I am good at keeping secrets - IF I can remember I'm not supposed to tell. LOL

Kim Ayres said...

What a wonderful photo! Hope your son had a great day :)

Pat said...

Z: that couple were uncommonly lucky:)

Judy: as we know remembering gets more difficult with time.

Annie Wan said...

what a beautiful picture!

i think i can keep secrets unless they're to do with my children then it gets very hard!

Annie Wan said...

and i love the frost quote too x

Pat said...

Mei Del: thank you. Keeping secrets can make life very complicated.

Pat said...

Kim: thank you. Your comment was hiding. The birthday boy had the day off but he was doing a Samaritan stint and his wife was working but he was definitely going to the pub at some stage:)

Kanani said...

I keep all kinds of secrets!

savannah said...

happy belated birthday to your #1 son, sugar! xoxox

Pat said...

Kanani: I think some people have a sign on their forehead which says 'Your secret is safe with me.!

Savannah: thank you on his behalf.

Anonymous said...

I have kept a terrible secret to myself for over fifty years now. It was something my mother told me about a member of our family. Everybody involved have now passed away, and try as I might I can't remember what the secret was! Getting old you see. They do say that the memory is the second thing to go.

Pat said...

Keith: Promise if you remember it you'll tell me. I won''t breathe a word and - as you say they have all passed away now - may they rest in peace. It's a very male thing to forget - mostly they don't have the same interest in folk as women do(I said interest not noseyiness)

Daphne Wayne-Bough said...

You could be my mum! No.1 is only 18 months behind me. The best way to deal with a secret is to forget it immediately. It's for the teller's benefit, not the hearer's.

Pat said...

Daphne: awwww! I always wanted a daughter. But you might have been a handful as a teenager?