“Be honest, be kind, be honourable”

I was beginning to feel all tingly as he gazed into the limpid pool of my eyes and professed his honourable intentions. Of course, I said yes. It was the day our life changed. Gone were the days when I just thought about me, now it’s “us” or “we”. How time flies! To think that when we first started we were both students or trainees, had moved from a studio in Birmingham, a maisonette with Mrs. Booth in Nottingham (we were on the top floor and every week we played cards with Mrs. Booth, bless her soul), a flat in Ramersdorf, a split house in Unterhaching, now a terrace house with a garden in the south of Munich. HRH the son was born two years after we moved to Germany and we have been living here for the last 33 years.

In a land so far away
From the seven seas
And four mountains
A king rules in a kingdom
A very strict but honourable king
He’s got a beautiful daughter
So exquisite and charming
Knights and princes ask for her hand
They came from different kingdoms
The princess was so picky
She didn’t want any of them
There was an old mango tree
In the middle of the garden
She wanted a mango
Hanging on the highest branch
Knights and princes tried but failed
Until a farmer’s son tried to climb up
With all his strength reaching the mango
He caught it and handed it to the princess
They looked at each other’s eyes
There was magic in the air
They fell in love and got married
To the delights of the whole kingdom

My secular attitude to cheating – please don’t
You can’t flaunt it, and forever you’ll be haunt
It just rattles your brain and you won’t be able to sleep
Bending rules is quite cheap and you’ll end up with weep
Will keep you gazing at the ceiling with scattered thoughts
And end up with head full of eccentric ideas of crackpots
It’s plain to see, it’s not worth all the glory and splendour
It’s not even honourable or dignified, being a cross bearer
You harvest what you sow so just enjoy the cool breeze
You won’t displease anyone and your mind will be at ease
Good for your skin thus gather your strength to be good
Perhaps one day they’ll give you your knighthood
What’s good for the goose is also good for the gander
You asked me about cheating and that’s my answer

my yang to my yin
we are for the win
you and me against the world
challenges we take
whatever the stake
we’re living in our dream-world

we say we will try
limit is the sky
we know it’s not that easy
other factors play
and our world seems grey
honour and trust is the key

you came to my life
we seem to strife
we hurt the one we love most
we keep asking why
until we say goodbye
we thought we’ve made it, almost

I have known shadowy delight
a crystal sea, tranquillity
the moon orbits around with glee

A place for all of us to share
seven continents make it up
oceans and seas are the line-up

With peaceful healing it’s my home
and the rest of men and beasts, too
amazing world and the sky’s blue

Its forests, deserts and mountains
savannah, tundra, swamps and hills
marsh and others all parts of frills

And so to honour this great earth
we have to treat it kindly so
respect it so we can all grow

In fighter pilot’s thinking, they were always pushing the outside of the envelope, i.e. testing out how far they could manage with their manoeuvres and tactics. It wasn’t easy for the wives or mothers, worrying in their kitchens whether their husbands or sons would come back alive. That was a game they all played, who would walk home and fly the flag. And if their time was up, someone on the roadside, a friend or somebody dignified and official would ring the bell and convey the inevitable to the wife, partner or mother. In the funeral, they would all say how brave he was and honour him with stars. It was very touching. Such was the life of Air Force pilots, so with this stone statue, we pay homage to all of them.

WQ #21: Is Being Honorable – Better Than Happiness?

For: https://alwayswrite.blog/2023/05/24/wq-21-is-being-honorable-better-than-happiness/