It’s May, it’s May…the merry month of May! The Burnout Queens and Pups have completed the move to the town of Lewes. We have been overwhelmed with boxes and ‘things’ to unwrap in our new digs but it has been a happy two weeks, not least because we have had help from our niece who came from Canada to help us settle in, bless her heart!
After spending many diligent days up to our elbows in bubble wrap we deserved a reward so we planned a day of magic (it was Dr T’s birthday after all)! Dr T recently discovered that her great (niece’s great, great) grandmother was born and raised a mere 15 minutes by train from our new town.
Dr T and I believe the sense of connection, whether current or legacy, is a vital part of how we know ourselves. As therapists we often helped clients embrace their past in order to move forward in life. Well, on this day we were creating a new adventure taking us into our past in a wildly exciting way.
Got our map, boarded the train, stopped for lunch to sustain us on our hike (yes you read that right…the Burnout Queens were going hiking) then began our trek to the Cuckmere Haven Coastguard Cottages. Walking the foot path along the estuary through farm fields we were all in awe of the silence, beauty, and peace that surrounded us.
We were walking into history. During World War II Canadian troops were attacked by air and killed by German planes in these fields. In the mid-1800’s the coastguard station was a lifelines to many boats that ran ashore, not to mention the smugglers!
We knew the cottages were perched on cliffs overlooking the English Channel and Seven Sister (white chalk cliffs), but nothing prepared us for this magnitude of beauty. It is awe inspiring, breath-taking and historic. As we walked we could ‘feel’ where Great (and great, great) Grandmother had walked, played and lived until the age of seven while Great Great Grandfather served with the coastguard here for many years. A harsh, rugged life at the tip of land that was and still is beyond beautiful.
The feeling of connecting to someone and some place in your past can be so spiritual and uplifting. This truly was a day we will all remember (plans afoot to bring more family to see it). We all hoped that the actual ancestoral cottage was this one, but we weren’t sure.
For Dr B it was really heart-warming to witness the sense of belonging both Dr T and her niece felt. It was infectious. Our past is sometimes the very place we need to visit in order to embrace who we are. Magic.
Next month, we’ll share more of the new Town we now call home. It’s stunning.
Love,
