Good-looking cousin weasling out of going on the trip with the children because she fancies a married man. Shirley makes a good cuppa. Pretending to be asleep in the car. Making toast by the fire in Nanny's room.
Back in the day, my brother who had cerebral palsy went to a boarding school called The Wilfred Pickles School For Spastics and there was a charity called The Spastics Society. Loved this book too.
That "Pickles" makes it all so very much more delicious. Of course, "spastic" started out as a simple descriptive of the muscle spasms that are a symptom of CP. The word became an insult. Calvin Trillin has a funny essay about wanting to change the name "gout" to "Dr. Johnson's Disease" because he doesn't like the connotations of age and over-indulgence attached to the former, and thinks the latter would give the (very painful) ailment a more dignified standing in public opinion.
Good-looking cousin weasling out of going on the trip with the children because she fancies a married man.
ReplyDeleteShirley makes a good cuppa.
Pretending to be asleep in the car.
Making toast by the fire in Nanny's room.
Back in the day, my brother who had cerebral palsy went to a boarding school called The Wilfred Pickles School For Spastics and there was a charity called The Spastics Society. Loved this book too.
ReplyDeleteThat "Pickles" makes it all so very much more delicious. Of course, "spastic" started out as a simple descriptive of the muscle spasms that are a symptom of CP. The word became an insult. Calvin Trillin has a funny essay about wanting to change the name "gout" to "Dr. Johnson's Disease" because he doesn't like the connotations of age and over-indulgence attached to the former, and thinks the latter would give the (very painful) ailment a more dignified standing in public opinion.
Delete