Goodbye Nannie Vi

I'm feeling a long way from home.

My family is at my Nannie Vi's funeral and i'm here, in Doha, in the middle of a sand storm.

Unfortunately my residents permit wasn't completed in time, and I still haven't got an exit permit - so I can't be there in person. I thought
that would make me feel better about the whole thing - the fact that I have no choice, i'm not at liberty to leave the country - but it seems to have made things worse. It's become strikingly apparent all of a sudden that I can't go home and see my family - however much I need them, or they need me, at least not until the paperwork is sorted. It's made me feel a bit stuck and a bit sad. And I realise that if i'd been a bit more on the ball when I arrived, I could have had the paperwork completed by now and be there with everybody.

So in an attempt to overcome the guilt of missing her funeral, I have composed a poem to my Nannie Vi, which I share with you here:

Dear Nannie Vi

I can't deny

You rather terrified me.

You were strict nannie

No nonsense nannie

Not 'blue rinse, apple pie' nannie

But strong nannie

Clever nannie

Boggle us at Boggle nannie

Cook a feast for thirty, make it look like a doddle nannie.

You were my 'turn around the garden' nannie

Knew every plant and flower nannie

My 'stir the Christmas cake, now it’s time to make a wish' nannie

You were my eat like a bird nannie

Yet best cook I’ve ever known nannie

Those birthday cakes that you would make

Were works of art, make no mistake, nannie.

You were my tales of the land girls nannie

Threshers, rats and haystacks nannie

That curly hair and olive skin,

Hints of the gypsy blood within? Nannie?

You were a true inspiration nannie

A woman I admired nannie

But best of all for me

You were my Nannie Vi, nannie.