Postscript

This was all written twenty years ago before retiring to our house in North London. I never succeeded in finding a publisher, but the family persuaded me and Peter has promised to transfer it to a memory stick.

We are now well into our eighties, and apart from suffering a few health scares consistent with old age are enjoying the quiet companionship that comes with it. Yet life has been far from uneventful and we have travelled all over the globe since Brian retired in 1990. In 2001 we celebrated our golden wedding at a dinner with many friends and relatives. The Rector of Imperial College at that time, Sir Richard Sykes, lent us the reception rooms at 170 Queen's Gate for the occasion. A friend and prominent citizen of Thailand, a country we have visited several times when Brian served on the council of a new university there, had come and filled our house with orchids, and at the dinner another friend made a witty speech, and many were the tokens of gratitude and love from everyone there.

The honours continued to be conferred on Brian, including an honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians, thus absolving him from the disapproval that the various teaching hospitals had cast upon him, and another from the Institute of Physics.

In 1994 another surprise came our way. Brian was voted as the next Chancellor of the University of Manchester, and served the full seven year term. It was a great honour and a tremendous joy to serve in that way the University in which he had once been a professor. We saw much of Manchester in our frequent visits, finding it a much improved city, so different from that of my youth. We greatly enjoyed the hospitality of the Vice Chancellor and his wife with whom we habitually stayed overnight, and through whom we were able to meet so many of our old friends and acquaintances. At a final ceremony before handing over the chancellorship to Anna Ford of TV fame, the biggest surprise of all took place: without Brian's prior knowledge I was awarded the degree of Doctor of Letters honoris causa, and Brian (who had already received two honorary doctorates from Manchester), conferred it with fondness before the farewell dinner. Most of the family were there to celebrate with us.

As for Peter and Michael: they are approaching retirement themselves, although their employers seem reluctant to let them go. Currently, Peter has a prestigious chair at the University of Edinburgh which he and his wife enjoy, together with their country cottage in the highlands. He has just been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. Michael has a prominent position in the world of finance where his gift for languages is greatly appreciated and much used. He has settled down happily in Spain with his charming second wife. He is also a grandfather, because his son, Marcus, has produced a daughter, Sofia Rose, who is a healthy, happy child, and together with her half-brother Sam (from Alison's first marriage) has made us proud great-grandparents. Our granddaughter Naomi teaches English in Seville, Spain, and has a delightful Scottish boyfriend.

Brian and I still enjoy each others' company immensely and are grateful for it. It seems incredible that what was once described as ``an untidy love affair'', so many years ago, has grown into a comradeship that we both hope will last some time yet.

peter 2011-07-25