Ealing North
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Steve Pound MP Ealing North |
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Frodo's travels take him to Hanwell January 2003 At last the truth can be told about the midnight hamster-smugglers of Hanwell. The children had been very specific in detailing their Christmas present needs. For several months a lengthening list has been pinned up in the hall. Sadly this contained no requests for improving books, tie and handkerchief sets or warm pullovers. Instead a bewildering blizzard of acronyms indicated a desire for a range of electronic equipment which would surely exceed that which took men to the moon and back. Amidst the PS2 and CD demands was written, in extra large writing, a heartfelt request for a hamster. Now I know the agony of pet ownership. Every Christmas I remember Toby and Bessie snuffling around for scraps with their tinsel collars glittering. Our two cross-breed dogs were not pets, but true companions. I don't think that we owned them, rather they owned us. I should have known that the delight they brought us would be as great as the sense of loss we felt when they left us but you just don't think that at the time. I believed that if you love someone enough they will live forever and stay unchangingly young and healthy. How to explain to my daughter that a hamster can burrow into your heart and leave a terrible empty space when it leaves? She cunningly changed the conversation on each occasion that I tried to discuss the realities of animal companions to her. She dropped a large hint that I could expect a Fulham FC calendar (with Sean Davis on the July page) and that the new Leonard Cohen and U2 compilations might find their way into my stocking if I came across with a small furry mammal. To make matters worse, our close neighbours had just given in to the blackmailing demands of their daughter and had also agreed to invite a hamster to stay. Both families admitted defeat and headed for Greenford Avenue to check out the beasts on offer. Having made the purchase we were then faced with the problem of what to do with the furry nibblers until Christmas day. We could hardly hide then in the house and tradition dictates that any good parent, even if his or her children are completely aware of what they are going to get, has to ensure that Christmas morning brings surprises. We agreed that Hamster 1 would lodge at the Whites while Hamster 2 would put up with us for a day or two. Each daughter would be told that the animal was a surprise for the other - and no hint would be dropped that another hamster lurked nearby. Come Midnight on Christmas Eve and furtive figures could be seen creeping through the Hanwell streets. At a pre-arranged point the exchange was made with the secrecy of cold war spies meeting on a bridge in Berlin. Hamster 1 was sneaked into the house and I am delighted to say that my daughter greeted him at dawn on Christmas Day with shrieks of such delight that I almost believed that she had no idea that her wish had come true. By the time I got back from my Christmas Day rounds to the fire stations, to visit some people in hospital and to share some of the joy with Pastor David Wise and the Greenford Baptist Church community at their Christmas Day lunch, the hamster had settled in and was busy rearranging the household around him. I have to say that he is a lovely little fellow and he has chosen to be called Frodo. I wish him a long and happy life with his new family and I wish all my Ealing North constituents every success and happiness in what I fervently hope will be a peaceful and prosperous New Year. |
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| Disclaimer | Copyright | Designed by Bassam Mahfouz. Promoted by Julian Bell, The Labour Party, Ruskin Hall, 16 Church Road, W3 8PP on behalf of Steve Pound MP |
