Without this piece of paper none of my family would exist. My great grandad was a bit of a hero. He was called James Coull and was the coxswain on the Mona Lifeboat during WW2 and saved a whole bunch of people’s lives during a storm on 5th December 1939. Before that he escaped from a POW camp in WW1, probably early 1919. He repeated what the guy in front of him said at the train station ticket booth and he was sold two tickets which got him to France from there he then made it back to Scotland. Without this piece of paper none of my family would exist. When he went up to stand in the queue at the counter, he listened very carefully to how the man in front asked for his tickets. That man had asked for three tickets, so my grandad did the same. His friend used one, he used the other and he kept the third add a souvenir. That was actually his second attempt at escaping, the first time he got caught hiding in a hay stack. He said, if the Germans are sticking hay forks in, then you need to jump up with your arms up. He got 6 months in solitary for that, all his teeth fell out cos of his bread and water only diet. The Germans made him a set of tin false teeth, which unbelievably, my granny threw away!!

He has since been immortalized in the Broughty Ferry castle in Dundee, Scotland with a display all about him and some of his belongings are there too.

My grandad sat down with my great granddad in 1978 and recorded him telling his stories. They are about four hours long and he speaks with the heaviest of Aberdonian accents so if you’re not Scottish you might struggle to understand him but here’s a link if you want to delve deeper. (Source: reddit.com)

My father was at Vesuvius eruption in March 1944. My father, Philip Wood, was a journalist from Peterborough. Before the Second World War he worked on the Peterborough Standard newspaper and, just before war was declared, got a job on The Times in London. Once war was declared he joined the Royal Artillery but remained as a journalist both for The Times and for a forces newspaper called Union Jack. In the second half of the war his work for The Times took him to being stationed for six months at a time in various Italian cities – Florence, Rome, Milan and Naples. It was during his time in Naples, in March 1944, that the volcano Vesuvius erupted – my father just happened to be there as a reporter. Although he did not get extremely close to the volcano he was close enough for small pieces of lava to be raining down near him. A piece of red hot molten lava landed a few feet away from him. He grabbed a shovel from a nearby soldier, scooped the piece of lava onto it and pressed a 1 lira coin into the lava with a stick. He told me that he then dropped the lava into some water to cool it down quickly. So, the coin stayed inside for lava completely enclosed. I was always fascinated by this object and, when he suddenly died in 1970, my mother gave it to me as a keepsake. To me it is one of the most valuable things that I possess and certainly unique! Toby Wood Peterborough

Wings or no wings? I’ve decided to say no to the wings.

Ironically the mythical figure inside the frame is said to have wings. The shadow puppet inside the frame is a mythical character called GatotKaca.

This was a gift from my Mom to My Dad’s 50th birthday back in 1989. My Mom put it down from the wall after my Dad passed away in 2002. I found it recently in her laundry room and moved it to my house. The vintage sewing machine - a wedding present from my Dad to my Mom, a framed shadow puppet - a 50th birthday present for my Dad from Mom and my Dad’s favourite vinyl player.

From Tomi



Our family from A to Z cards.

It is a box with a card for each letter in the Hebrew ABC. Each card has 3 lines with space to write a few words that begin with the letter in the card. The title of the box is “our family from A to Z”. The idea behind it is to celebrate and treasure your family. A way to write all those little things that make your family unique.

The traditions, the tastes, the songs. All families have big and small things that makes them a family. You can fill it in alone or sit together and make it a family activity. The text is in Hebrew but you can get the feel.

Contributed via Naama from NaamaSimanim.co.il

