Family Matters. Day 135.

In 1988 in China a baby boy aged two and a half was kidnapped. In fact many babies were being kidnapped at that time as parents were only allowed to have one child as the authorities wanted to control their rapidly growing population. To ensure they had a boy and not a girl some parents would buy a baby from a trafficker. Baby Mao Yin had been stolen and sold and his mother spent thirty two years looking for him. She learnt of other stolen babies and joined an organisation of people in a similar situation and they all helped each other. In 2009 the Chinese government set up a DNA database and many of the crimes began to be solved. It was found that most people buying babies had been childless or had had a girl. In the country parents were allowed a second child if the first was a girl. In May this year she received a phone call to say that her DNA had been matched with an adopted boy. It took 32 years but finally this mother was reunited with her son.

In Oxfordshire a man was made redundant from his job  a year after his wife had to stop working having been diagnosed with MS. During this past ‘annus horribilis’ he also lost his brother to coronavirus and his sister in law to a heart attack. But now their luck has turned and they won one million pounds on the lotto. Good luck to them and I hope they enjoy spending it.

I’ve managed to have a good week with lunch in friend Margaret’s garden with two other ladies on Wednesday, yesterday Rosemary came in from Dorchester to spend the day in Bournemouth and today I went into town with my granddaughter Alice. Of course several shops have closed and several cafes have opened.  We checked out the BH2 complex and found most eating places were open but not many people over there. We bought Alice two lovely silver bracelets for an early birthday present then had lunch in the Cosy Club. Things still feel a little strange out and about and I hate it when people refer to ‘the new normal’ for me it’s ‘the new abnormal’. A really lovely day with Alice though.

The old king Juan Carlos of Spain has turned up in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates showing that reports that he was in Dominican Republic or Portugal were a load of tosh. He is staying at the very posh luxury Emirates Palace Hotel after fleeing Spain in a private jet accompanied by four bodyguards. He’ll be able to visit the very beautiful Grand Mosque and the Louvre art gallery which are situated in the same city. My son in law drove us there when I was visiting the family in Dubai, absolutely loved them both. It’s a sad old man who runs away leaving behind his wife, children and grandchildren.  Good night.   😴💤😴