We’ve thought of a way to break it down and make the target achievable. We just need 400 people, 400 of you who are reading this, to try to raise £1000 each in the next 40 days before I turn 40 on the 29th April.

Whether you do that through a bake sale, a pub quiz, a walk, a run, a cycle, a swim, a sail, a danceathon, a coffee morning, a mini golf tournament, a raffle, a knitathon, hosting a meal and charging per head, a concert, a talent show, or a fundraiser of your own choosing, is up to you. Or you could do a combination of these.

So that we know how many of you are doing this, please leave your name in a comment on this blog post, if you are going to be attempting to raise £1000.

My fundraising page is https://gofundme.com/savejenny

If you would rather donate via cheque (this would also avoid GoFundMe taking out any fees from your donation), please make your cheque payable to:
J K ROWBORY
(please make sure that you spell the surname correctly; it’s an unusual spelling)
and send it to the following P.O. Box address (this P.O. Box will only be available for a couple of months):

Jenny’s Neurosurgery Fund
PO Box Number 109,
MACHYNLLETH
SY20 0AS

If you would like an acknowledgement of the safe arrival of a postal donation, please enclose an address to which my Mum can send a reply. We will add the amount donated by your cheque as an ‘offline donation’ to the online fundraising page, to add to the total. Please let us know if you would like your postal donation to be anonymous or please state the name under which you would like it publicly displayed on the fundraising page.

If you need a video to show or explain to people what you are raising money for, you can share this video with them, which explains what is wrong with my neck, what I have to do every day to stay alive, and why it is getting more urgent that I get this neurosurgery as soon as possible:
https://youtu.be/4XbNiqMCMns:

That video will answer every question that you have. It’s also the first pinned video on my profile on Instagram (here: https://www.instagram.com/jennyrowbory), TikTok (here: https://www.tiktok.com/@jennyrowbory) and Facebook (here: https://www.facebook.com/JennyRowbory) so you can share the video from there, if need be.

We can do this together! It’s very achievable if just 400 people try to raise £1000.

Thank you so very much.

Feel free to use this photo of me at your fundraising endeavours:

<p>The post 40 days until I turn 40: we need just 400 people in order to reach my fundraising target for life-saving neurosurgery first appeared on Jenny Rowbory.</p>

It’s a bit late, but Happy New Year! I have something exciting to share with you today. First though, apologies for the lack of updates; it’s been a hard and unpleasant year so far. I have been plugging away with fundraising through videos on social media, mainly YouTube (this is my channel: https://youtube.com/@jenny.rowbory ) and TikTok (here: https://www.tiktok.com/@jennyrowbory ) and Instagram (here: https://www.instagram.com/jennyrowbory ), where it is an uphill struggle to try and build a platform and community, so I’d appreciate any follows and engagement on those accounts to help with the algorithms, and therefore with fundraising! I mainly talk about books, films and TV on those accounts and I usually end each video with a fundraising message.

There is a bigger fundraising plan in the works coming later this month since I am turning 40 years old at the end of April and I’m desperate to reach the target fundraising amount by then. So we’re going to have a big push before then (the idea is tied in with the number 40!) and we’ll let you know more about the plan soon.

For today though, I have a new video of a duo of original poems by me, collectively called ‘Suite of the Moon and Sun’. It is here on YouTube:

Individually the poems are called ‘When Winchester Cathedral swallowed the moon’ and ‘When Winchester Cathedral swallowed the sun’. I hope that you find them meaningful, helpful and thought-provoking. They were inspired by when the artist Luke Jerram’s travelling artworks ‘Museum of the Moon’ and ‘Helios’ were installed for a while in Winchester Cathedral. My aunt, Viv Ferris, who volunteers as a guide at the cathedral, sent me a photo of ‘Museum of the Moon’, which was the instigation of my inspiration for these poems. I hope that you enjoy them, and in this world of short-form content and short attention spans, I hope that you can find a few minutes to listen to them. I will share the video of the poems on most social media, so you can share or repost the video on whatever social media platform that you are on.

Thank you so much for your continued support and I am so grateful for all the donations. It doesn’t go without notice that there are many people who regularly donate; thank you so much for your generosity. You keep hope alive.

<p>The post First update of 2026, new poems, and fundraising update first appeared on Jenny Rowbory.</p>

 
Happy October! Please join in with Orangetober this month: every time you see something orange, take a photo of it and post it online, along with a brief explanation. You can use your own words or you can copy and paste the following to put with each of your photos:

I’m taking part in Orangetober. Whenever I see something orange this October, I’m taking a photo of it, and asking you to consider donating to Jenny Rowbory’s lifesaving neurosurgeries https://gofundme.com/savejenny You can watch a video about the situation with her neck, why she needs to raise money urgently, and what she’s having to do every day to stay alive here: https://youtu.be/4XbNiqMCMns

Thank you! We are so grateful for your continuing support, especially as things are getting increasingly tough. We hope that you have fun spotting the colour orange in your everyday lives this October! It will bring us so much hope if you join in with the challenge. Invite your friends to do it too! Thanks again. 🧡🧡🧡

<p>The post Orangetober first appeared on Jenny Rowbory.</p>

 
Today in Prime Minister’s Question Time, a Member of Parliament raised a question about one of his constituents who, like me, has neck instabilities caused by EDS and is also having to crowdfund for treatment overseas because there is nothing available on the NHS for us. There are thousands of people in the same boat. Just hearing this question raised in parliament was incredible. I’ve been consistently ignored by my own MP so it was refreshing to see this.

Mum has immediately sent off an email to the MP that asked the question to tell him about me and to ask him to keep us up-to-date on any developments or if the government are going to set anything in motion or if he can help in any way.

It would take years to train up neurosurgeons in this country and get the specialist equipment into our hospitals in the UK (there’s no hospital in the UK with the equipment needed to determine the amount of intraoperative traction needed for complex EDS patients). So it’s unlikely that this will help my situation personally but it’s great that the process has potentially been started for people like me in the future. I’m guessing that the government are not going to financially contribute to individuals currently fundraising because there are so many people who need these operations overseas. It’s unlikely. Given that there’s no help available to us on the NHS, I wish that they were legally required to fund the treatment that we need abroad. We’ll see what happens.

So I’ll still have to raise the money by myself. This MP seems willing to fight for his constituent. I’m not his constituent so I don’t know if he’ll be able to help me but we’ll wait to see if he replies to our email to see if he can help at all. Meanwhile, we keep fundraising (at gofundme.com/savejenny)

To see the question in parliament and the Prime Minister’s answer, go to time stamp 13:15 of the following YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/live/aJ-x3Qy1WhA?si=MFiNmC7qm-fwU-Zm

Thank you to Simon Meadows for bringing these PMQs to my attention. We would have completely missed it otherwise!

Here is the video that explains what is wrong with my neck, details of the surgery that I need, my everyday bed-bound life as I fight to stay alive, and why it is getting more urgent that I get this neurosurgery as soon as possible:

<p>The post A question raised in parliament about EDS patients with neck instabilities who have to crowdfund for treatment overseas because there’s no help available on the NHS first appeared on Jenny Rowbory.</p>

We ask that you donate the price of a “ticket” on her fundraising page here: https://gofundme.com/savejenny – simply donate however much you think the performance is worth after viewing it. Even if you don’t usually like poetry, Jenny’s performances will change your mind! She’s truly talented. Hopefully the video will touch you; it will make you laugh and make you cry.

It has also been a labour of love to make the video and, given the state that Jenny is in, she has pushed herself further than she should, at great physical cost, in order to provide a stunning experience for you all, to raise money.

With some of the poems, Jenny performs them straight to camera; with other poems, she has used video footage that her late father filmed when he was on his walks, and she has done a voice-over of those poems.

We thought it would be lovely if we all pressed ‘play’ on the video at the same time, so that we are all watching the video at the same time. We invite you to start watching at 7pm on Friday 18th July 2025 (BST – British Summer Time). It would be wonderful if you could leave a comment on the YouTube video to let us know that you are there, and to leave a comment on the video saying which of the poems performed is your favourite – Jenny especially would like to know this.

The video is unlisted on YouTube, which means that you’ll be getting your money’s worth because the general public won’t be able to see it, only people who have been given the following link: https://youtu.be/XG0watkxXSM (this is where you can watch the video).
We trust you all to be honest and donate the price of the “ticket” if you watch the video. Please do share the link with others, explaining about giving a donation if they watch the video.

The video will be available both before and after 7pm on 18th July, in case you’re not available at that specific time to watch it together as a community, supporting Jenny’s fundraising effort.

Thank you so much for all your support and kindness. Jenny hopes that ‘A Summer Night’s Dream of Poetry’ will be a balm for your soul.

The running order of poems in the programme:

• Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll
• I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• An extract from ‘i carry your heart with me’ by e.e. cummings
• ‘Tis a fearful thing by Yehuda HaLevi
• A Better Resurrection by Christina Rossetti
• Why English is so Hard by Unknown
• The Way Through The Woods by Rudyard Kipling
• Invictus by W.E. Henley
• All That Is Gold Does Not Glitter by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Sonnet 29 by William Shakespeare
• For Right Now by Jenny Rowbory

Here is the video that explains what is wrong with Jenny’s neck, details of the surgery she needs, her bed-bound life, and why it is getting more urgent that she gets this neurosurgery as soon as possible:

A book of Jenny’s collected poems ‘We Are The Winter People’, which is also raising money for her surgery: https://mybook.to/WinterPeople

<p>The post A Summer Night’s Dream of Poetry with Jenny Rowbory first appeared on Jenny Rowbory.</p>

Summer Reading Challenge:
try to read (or listen to via audiobook) as many books as possible over the summer and get friends/family to sponsor you per book that you manage to read, all in order to raise money for my urgent neurosurgery. So for every book that you read over the summer, others can sponsor you a certain amount of their choosing, or an overall total amount to sponsor you. They can either donate straight onto the fundraising page (https://gofundme.com/savejenny or you can print out the Summer Reading Challenge Sponsor Form below for them to fill out, and then you collect the money from them when you’ve completed the challenge, and donate it.

Book recommendation videos that I’ve made for you to help you out as you embark on your Summer Reading Challenge:

• My 14 favourite non-fiction books of all time: https://youtu.be/dmWVvyfu0Qs

• My top 25 book series, all in 30 seconds: https://youtube.com/shorts/htSOxZx1Gig (genres: fantasy, dystopian, science fiction)

• 5 children’s books that are so good that you’ll genuinely enjoy them as an adult: https://youtube.com/shorts/lWfI1cyERD0

• If you like Pride and Prejudice, I think you might enjoy this book: https://youtube.com/shorts/dRO1cL4PL78

• A recent discovery of a phenomenal fantasy book: https://youtu.be/jnrvrfX2FO4

• Review of an incredible sci-fi story, as well as my “Story Time” on my science background: https://youtu.be/WGKsbx8u0OU

Links to my re-edited and significantly shortened YouTube video explaining why I’m fundraising and what for:

• explaining the situation with my neck, how to fix it, and what I go through every day: https://youtu.be/4XbNiqMCMns

You can follow me on TikTok, Instagram or YouTube for more book reviews and bookish content for extra ideas for your Summer Reading Challenge, at these links:

TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/@jennyrowbory

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/jennyrowbory

YouTube:
https://youtube.com/@jenny.rowbory

Summer Reading Challenge Sponsor Form:

 
My fundraising page: https://gofundme.com/savejenny

<p>The post Summer Reading Challenge first appeared on Jenny Rowbory.</p>

We are overflowing with gratitude and overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity that has been shown. Thank you to each and every one of you. We smashed the £5000 that the donor was matching in donations! Since we raised it within the 48hours of 29th-30th April for matching donations, the donor added an extra £1000 on top of that, as had been promised. This means that from the 28th-30th April, together we raised £23,625, which includes the matched donations, which is absolutely incredible. We are blown away.

We have moved from 39% of the overall target raised for the fundraiser, to 42% of the overall target raised. Given the large amount that we have to raise overall, this is a phenomenal swing towards the ultimate goal. Thank you so much to everyone. It’s incredibly encouraging.

If anybody has any contacts with any individual or any business/company that could help further with reaching the overall target amount or would like to help with something similar in the future with matched donations, or even with matching the total amount that we’ve raised in these last five years, please get in touch here: https://www.jkrowbory.co.uk/contact/

Thank you so much to everyone.

Fundraising page: GoFundMe.com/savejenny

<p>The post Thank you – we smashed it over the 48 hours! first appeared on Jenny Rowbory.</p>

The 30th April was my late husband Ian’s birthday, Jenny’s dad. He always told Jenny that we would raise the money to get her the neurosurgery, however long it took. It is fitting then that the matching of donations will be happening across both Jenny and Ian’s birthdays on 29th and 30th April. This is the time to donate, since your donation will be matched! It would be wonderful if as many people as possible could share Jenny’s story and could tell people about donations being matched on these two days (up to the amount of £5000). Of course, you are free to donate more than that though because the target amount of money that we need to raise is so large. Fundraising page: https://gofundme.com/savejenny

At the end of March, the blood vessels in Jenny’s neck became even more compressed because of the instability of the metal and vertebrae, meaning that a lot less blood is reaching the muscles in her larynx and pharynx. She has lost the ability to control her swallowing and she chokes/aspirates even on water. She is now on puréed food but that is very difficult for her too. Eating is now an ordeal. The exertion of swallowing causes the muscles to seize up and block the airway. She cannot have a feeding tube due to medical reasons caused by the disastrous failed surgery in January 2020.

Due to the failure of the muscles in her larynx and pharynx, those muscles often seize up and block the airway. This means that Jenny is struggling even more to breathe than she was before.

We need to get Jenny the neurosurgery. The situation is even more desperate. There is nothing more that doctors in the U.K. can do for Jenny. She just needs to get to New York where the specialist equipment is and the specialist neurosurgeon.

Since the end of March, Jenny is now unable to speak at all because the speaking muscles seize up upon use due to lack of blood supply, closing up the airway, making her unable to breathe. She can’t speak if she wants to stay alive. Before the end of March, for the last couple of years, Jenny was able to speak in short bursts once every few days. Now even this has been taken away from her. She is devastated. It also means she won’t be able to use her voice on videos to fundraise for the surgery, taking away her ability to fundraise, unless she uses an electronic voice, which isn’t as effective.

Jenny’s youngest nephew once asked, “will Auntie Jenny be better by the time she’s 40?”. Let’s get Jenny the surgery she needs, as she enters the last year of her thirties. She has lost enough time. Let’s not fail her!

At the time of writing this update, we are 39% towards the fundraising target amount. If you, or a business/company that you know, are able to help further, please get in touch here: books@jkrowbory.co.uk

This video explains what is wrong with Jenny’s neck, the surgery that she needs, and the way in which she has to live every day in order to stay alive. This video answers any questions that you may have and it is also a useful link to share online with people to explain Jenny’s situation: https://youtu.be/j09KuknjrXY

Five years ago, after a disastrous UK operation, Jenny was figuratively placed to hang off the edge of a cliff by her fingertips, and there went I also, as her mum and carer, flinging my arms over the edge to catch her arms in mine before her fingertips slipped off, holding her there to keep her alive until help came. Today, we are still holding on, albeit 39% of the way towards pulling her up from where she dangles off the cliff. We just need some extra hands to come and help pull her up the full way. Whether stranger, friend or family, we are extremely grateful to all those generous souls who have given us support to date ❤️. Thank you for your prayers, thoughts and well wishes.

<p>The post Donations are going to be matched on 29th+30th April! Plus a message from Ann Rowbory first appeared on Jenny Rowbory.</p>

I would love it if you were to share the YouTube link to the poem (https://youtu.be/X_Ce50LxkBE) on social media and/or send it privately to your friends via messaging apps. I hope that the poem will bring you light, as well as raising a bit of money for my surgery.

I give permission for the poem to be read aloud at any gathering or church service this Easter or during the run-up to Easter, as long as you remember to say that the poem is ‘by Jenny Rowbory’. A text version of the poem can be found in the photo below (click on it to zoom in), if you would like to read it aloud at a gathering:

If the church or gathering space has multimedia capabilities, then the poem could just be shown via the YouTube video.

Now, for the good fundraising news! I’m always grateful for any donation, no matter how big or small, towards the neurosurgery. I think that it’s always good to share with you all when a large donation has been made because it brings great encouragement to everyone. A donor, who would like to remain anonymous, has given £5000! Thank you to that donor and to every single person who has donated or shared my story and shared links. Thank you so much for your continuing support. Happy Easter for next Sunday! I hope that you enjoy the poem. Let me know your thoughts about the poem in the comments below!

*********

Fundraising page: gofundme.com/savejenny

If you need a reminder on any details of what is wrong with my neck, the surgery that I need, and why it is getting more urgent that I get this neurosurgery as soon as possible, you can watch this video on YouTube:

<p>The post A surprise poem and some good news first appeared on Jenny Rowbory.</p>

Christmas Eve

In the early evening, my family (my parents, my two brothers and I) would have a meal with the posh tablecloth (as opposed to the everyday, plastic, wipeable one) on the table, with the posh Hornsea pottery plates, and silver cutlery that came out once or twice a year. Mum and Dad were given these when they got married. We would maybe have a meal of “picky bits” or perhaps a Chinese. The rest of the year we would drink water, but the fancy wine glasses would come out and there would be apple Schloer (how posh, we thought!). But I didn’t like fizzy drinks so I had regular apple juice as a treat. Mum might have had one glass of dry white wine. Up until the age of about 11 years old, we all used to dress up smartly. I hated dresses but I yielded to wearing them on this occasion. Being together, all five of us as a family, was my favourite thing in the world, so I could relent in my refusing-to-wear-a-dress stubbornness for this purpose and forget for a while that I was wearing a dress!

Next, we would be onto the Christmas Eve games. We would always start with ‘Consequences’ in the sitting room, on the settee and armchairs facing each other. Mum would give us each a piece of paper and a pen. If you don’t know how to play Consequences, first everyone writes down a man/boy’s name, which can be fictional or real, then you fold down the paper a little bit, just covering over the name so that nobody else sees it. Then you pass your piece of paper to the person next to you on your left, and receive the piece of paper from the person on your right. You then write a woman/girl’s name (real or fictional) on the new piece of paper, fold the paper down again a little bit more, just enough to cover over the name, and pass the paper to your left again and receive from your right. Then you would write down a place (you can be as specific or imaginative as you want) where the man and the woman met, fold the paper down a bit more, covering over the place name, and passing the paper to your left again. Next would be ‘What He Said to Her’ (just one sentence), fold and cover, pass along. Then ‘What She Said To Him in reply’ (one sentence) – fold and pass along. Then ‘What Happened Next’ (one sentence) – fold and pass along. Lastly was ‘And The World Said…’ (one sentence). Then you’d fold and pass along one final time and receive from your right. You’d unfold all the folds and each person would read out their piece of paper. I remember Dad especially chuckling away to himself as he thought of the narrative that he was writing and then his laughter as the jumbled up stories were revealed and read. Some would be duds but mostly they were hilarious. Especially if there were family in-jokes or sometimes if we’d used each other as the names and it ended up ridiculous! I think that Consequences was all of our favourite thing, all cosy there together having fun. It was our special Christmas Eve thing. We usually did a few more rounds of Consequences. Then we would play charades. I always loved that. Next, we would play cards; we all got to choose one game each. I always chose Old Maid, but I also loved Knock Out Whist and Sevens. Go Fish and Cheat were good too. However, I might have groaned if anyone chose Rummy (“boring!”)!

Then we would usually end it all with a board game. I would always try to persuade everyone to go for Dingbats, Cluedo or Taboo, as those were my faves. But Dingbats was banned when I was about 12 years old because I was too good at it so it became too boring/annoying for everyone else! Dingbats will always be my favourite board game though. I found Monopoly dull but I would submit to playing it if I got out-voted. As long as I got to play as the dog, I was happy to just be together. However, The Worst option was the board game ‘Risk’. My brothers and Dad loved it but Mum and I did not. It could go on for aaaaages and was incredibly tedious. I would sometimes agree to play but sometimes Mum and I would duck out of that one.

I don’t remember ever believing in Father Christmas. Nobody ever told me that he didn’t exist but nobody ever told me that he did either. When I was young, I assumed that it was just a sort of collective imaginary game that everyone joined in with. For example, leaving mince pies and a glass of milk by the fireplace for Father Christmas, and carrots for the reindeer. Then on Christmas morning, finding crumbs from the mince pies, the milk mostly drunk, and nibbles taken from the carrots, along with a letter from “Father Christmas”. I never thought for one minute that it was real but it was fun all the same and I loved the tradition of it. I don’t think that I actually realised that other children genuinely believed in Father Christmas; I assumed that they were just playing along too. Even now, if you asked me, I would say that in the nineties it wasn’t such a big thing and that children didn’t really believe in Father Christmas in the UK. I’m beginning to doubt myself now and wonder if my contemporaries did actually believe and I was just the unusual one. I do think that it has become more of a thing to “keep the magic alive” for children now until a lot older. I would think it strange if anyone over the age of, say, ten years old genuinely believed that Father Christmas was real.

In the night, Dad would leave a Christmas sack of presents and a stocking at the end of our beds. We would then haul these downstairs in the morning to the sitting room. Due to the fact that I’m an utter nutter, I wouldn’t ever, even as a teenager, be able to sleep on Christmas Eve. Not even a minute. I didn’t do well with anticipation or with adrenaline pumping, so by the morning I was always a bit pale, shaky, feeling awful and a bit sick, from all the adrenaline and no sleep. I did not enjoy that feeling at all so I came to dread Christmas a bit in that sense. It was the same on my birthday. It was the waiting, knowing something was about to happen. It didn’t matter that it was a good, exciting thing, not a bad thing; the awful adrenalised anticipation feeling was the same. I tried so so hard to sleep and it infuriated me no end that no matter what I tried (deep breathing, relaxation exercises, prayer etc.), I never managed to get one second of sleep on Christmas Eve. So even though there were happy things to come, I was never in a very good state and it was a bit of a haze but was determined to enjoy it anyway. I think once the presents were out of the way and done, then I could start to calm down a little but this didn’t work if you were then seeing your Mum’s family and Dad’s family in the days following where there would be more presents. I didn’t sleep for days!

Christmas Day

Despite the aforementioned no sleep, I was determined to enjoy my favourite thing of all. At 6am (or maybe earlier if I could persuade my family to get up earlier, since I was raring to go, having been awake and waiting impatiently all night), we all went down to the sitting room with our Christmas sacks and stockings, sitting on the settee or armchairs. We took turns opening presents, youngest to oldest, so we could all see what everyone got! So my younger brother would open one present while everyone watched, then me, then my older brother, then Mum and then Dad. We went around like this until all the presents were opened. This was my favourite thing about Christmas. It wasn’t so much about the presents themselves, it was about being together, all five of us, all cosy. That feeling of love and togetherness. I just wanted to stay in that moment forever.

There would be wrapping paper everywhere. From when I was 14 years old onwards, we also had our golden retriever, Harry, with us. He used to get SO excited. He loved us all being together too and his strong tail wagged constantly. He used to go crazy running in little circles through all the discarded wrapping paper and then it was a task to try to clear up the wrapping paper before he shredded it to pieces!

There were a couple of Christmases where we stayed at home but most times, I remember having breakfast and then jumping in the car, having packed our bags the day before. When we lived in Colchester, Southwold, or Martlesham Heath, it would be a trip down the A12 and then M25, to our Nanny and Granddad’s house (Mum’s parents) in Ashford (the one in Middlesex, not the one in Kent) when we were younger and then Staines when they moved house. All my Mum’s family lived in that area. We would have Christmas lunch there. My Mum’s brother and sister and their families would come around too.

It would be roast turkey with all the trimmings: roast potatoes, stuffing, sausages wrapped in bacon, Yorkshire puddings, gravy, bread sauce (I didn’t eat that) and a bazillion different vegetables (I skipped most vegetables because I counted Christmas as a day off from eating things that I didn’t like but I liked roast parsnips and onions so I ate those). Of course, we pulled crackers before the meal and wore our hats from inside them. I had a Sara Lee Chocolate Gateau with pouring cream for pudding every year (I didn’t like Christmas pudding), which was delicious.

When we were much younger, us children sat at little tables on the floor but when we were a little bit older, we graduated and all sat together with the adults.

After lunch was opening the presents from Nanny and Granddad and from my aunts and uncles. That was always glorious chaos. Everyone opening everything all at once usually, not individually with everyone watching. That was fun.

We spent the afternoon playing with our cousins and perusing our new presents. The television was sometimes on in the background while the adults talked.

In the evening there was a magnificent buffet, either at Nanny and Granddad’s or we would all transfer over to Uncle Tony and Auntie Muriel’s house in Ashford (they were actually my Great Uncle (Granddad’s brother) and Great Aunt but we didn’t call them that). My Mum’s cousins Paul and Andrew, with their families, would be there too. So it was a large gathering, what with my grandparents, my other aunts and uncles and cousins and us.

There was usually a game of Trivial Pursuit and Jenga, mixed in to the evening somewhere, while some of the adults drank. Auntie Muriel and/or Nanny would always make an amazing Fruit Charlotte, which I loved.

We then went back to stay the night at Nanny and Granddad’s.

Boxing Day

We jumped back in the car to spend Boxing Day with my Dad’s family, usually at Uncle Michael and Auntie Ingrid’s house in Fleet – aunts, uncles and cousins were there. I don’t remember Grandad Rowbory much because he died when I was very young but I’ve seen a video of him there at the gathering when I was a baby. I don’t have a memory of Oma (Dad’s mother) being there, since she lived in Holland, but maybe she was there sometimes (I don’t remember!). I do remember that everything would stop when she rang up from Holland though and we all would gather around the phone. She would pass on her love to us all.

It was a late lunch but it was always very grand. I remember that Uncle Michael once went outside in the bitter cold to barbecue a duck! But there were lots of foods, meats and sauces on offer. My favourite food in the world is homemade Coronation Sauce and that is something that was always there. Somebody had always made an amazing chocolate mousse too (I didn’t like Christmas pudding so I had the mousse instead). After lunch, we all gathered around the Christmas tree in the foyer (there were ten of us cousins on my Dad’s side), opening presents. Then it would be the Boxing Day walk. I loved that part. Coats and wellies, plus nice and bracing outside!

Then we would either go back to Nanny and Granddad’s house to stay another night, or travel home.

27th-31st December

This time was always a bit of blur of Christmas TV and films (our chosen programmes in neon highlighter in The Radio Times, of course), playing with new gifts and eating nice food. Or, when I reached secondary school, it was a time of homework or coursework, then in Sixth Form it was a time of frantic revision for the AS-Level and A-Level exam modules that were in January! And that was it. Christmas over. Until next year!

My Top 5 Favourite Christmas films: Nativity!, Elf, The Preacher’s Wife, That Christmas, Love Actually
(I’m not really a fan of Christmas films but the above ones are the best of them, in my opinion)

Top 5 Favourite Christmas songs/carols: Carol of the Bells, Do You Hear What I Hear?, O Holy Night, Fairytale of New York, In The Bleak Midwinter

What are your favourites? Leave a comment to let me know!

If you’ve enjoyed reading this, please consider watching the video below, where I turn the camera on myself to show what my life is like and explain why I need urgent and essential neurosurgery in New York (fundraising page here: gofundme.com/savejenny):

<p>The post Christmas reminiscences first appeared on Jenny Rowbory.</p>

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