I just checked my blog archive, and I find myself wanting to re-type this entry today, pretty much word for word. It’s my brother Mark’s birthday again today, and just like last year I find myself struggling to come up with something to say here due to the extreme heat. It has still been too long since I saw Mark and his family – years, in fact. Of course we talk over the web quite frequently, but even then Mark’s appearances on the weekly family Skype call seem to be growing rarer and rarer, he’s so busy these days. While I met my parents up in Stratford yesterday for a lovely lunch, it now seems far too long since all my family were in one place, largely due to the pandemic. Now that has subsided, it’s probably high time that we started to organise a family get together. Lots of families like mine will be in a similar position, so family reunion organisers must be making a fortune.

Happy birthday Mark, have a great day.