If there’s one thing I have noticed more than anything else, it is the little things which mean a lot to me.
Only just a few minutes ago, for some unknown reason the thought of a Geordie saying “Aye, Pet” leapt into my mind while I was concentrating on other things. As I rehearsed the sound of it in my head and tried to whisper the sounds (why whisper?) I realised that as a Scot (even though he spoke in more of an RP accentless way) Laing would have had an affinity with the accent. I smiled as I thought of him saying something in a Geordie accent with the language to boot. Geordie and Scots according to Laing, shared some vocabulary and he could instantly understand words that meant very little to me.
My efforts at Geordie sounded more Welsh to me. On the accents front, I shall stick to the day job.
Last night I listened to I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again (ISIRTA), and sang along to the Angus Prune tune. One of my favourite party pieces when we were alone at home together was to Charleston (very badly) the movement where the hands crossed over from one knee to the other. I did it last night. It’s the first time I’ve listened to ISIRTA since Laing died. He used to be in awe of (and sometimes exasperated by) my abilities to do song and dance routines exiting from the dining room as I cleared the table. It was also fun to be able to be a complete looney with somebody who wouldn’t question why you did things, and accept it because it’s just the way you are.
Where will I find another? The answer is I won’t. If, and that is a big if at present, I decide to find another partner, I am not looking for Laing (Mark II). If there’s one thing I’ve learned from that long time we spent together, it is simply everybody is unique. We were lucky to have been the best of friends from the word go. I will not and cannot find another so easily again.
Friendship is underrated, and it is friendship I crave more than anything else right now. Thereafter I seek companionship, not necessarily as a partner or a (casual) lover, but somebody whose company will not pall, or who will accept me as I am. Is it asking too much to just be friends? It’s a little thing to ask, but like all little things, in the words of the song (and what a song), they mean a lot.
