Do you believe in magic? I do!
I am currently trying to track down a long-lost manuscript of a play called ‘A Month of Sundays’ first broadcast on BBC Television on Sunday 28th September 1952 written by my grandfather, George F. Kerr. The play sees action take place in a British officers' prisoner of war camp in Southern Germany in 1943.
I have contacted the BBC Archives and am waiting for a response however in the meantime over the Easter weekend I visited my mum and went up into the loft to see if I could find it. Disappointingly, I didn’t find the manuscript however I did find many more exciting treasures relevant to my current writing project.
I am writing a book on purpose which centres around the experiences of my grandfather who spent five years as a prisoner of war in four different camps during WW2. Whilst held captive he kept a journal which we only found last year amongst my grandmother’s things after her death. It is an incredible journal filled with his honest reflections, reminiscences, inspiring quotes from a variety of sources and snippets of his own poetry, essays and plays.
As a podcaster, I often wonder how incredible it would have been to have had my grandfather on as a guest on Focus on WHY. Unfortunately he died in 1996 just after I graduated from university so he didn't ever get to see the work I am now involved in. I know he would be proud especially as he was a TV and radio playwright and would have marvelled at the medium of podcasting.
So what did I find up in the loft? I discovered actual real treasure! All the correspondence my grandfather had received whilst being held in the prisoner of war camps, the letters he had written to his parents and brothers, war telegrams, photographs taken inside the various camps, a book of short stories that he had written, his military identity card, his official prisoner photo and his metal tag with his prison number and two small metal keys.
However, amongst all of this treasure I also found a small brown envelope with a tiny Dictaphone tape inside. Written on the front of the envelope was ‘Amy and George 1990’. I dug out the old Dictaphone however it didn’t work so I ordered a second hand one from eBay and put the tape away back safely in the envelope and patiently waited to hear what was on the tape.
A whole week passed and on the afternoon of Saturday 15th April, coincidentally my grandfather’s birthday, a package arrived. It was the new Dictaphone. I ran to my office, put the tape in and can you guess what was on it?
It was a recording of me aged 15 interviewing my grandfather about his experiences as a prisoner of war. I immediately burst into tears and started shaking. 33 years ago, I'd had the foresight to make a 17 minute recording asking my grandfather the questions that I would want and need the answers to in order for me to write a book about him later in life. The fact that it was also his birthday that I made this discovery can’t have been a coincidence. So if that is not magic, then I do not know what is!
I cannot describe what it was like to hear my grandfather's voice again after all these years and to hear my grandmother in the background too who I lost just over a year ago now. I believe that this is the universe truly conspiring to help me put together this book on the topic of purpose. Faith and belief, awe and wonder, trust and a sprinkle of fairy dust all came together to manifest this small miracle for me to which I am incredibly grateful. Thank you, universe, you have restored hope that everything is possible and that magic really does exist in the world.
What miracles have happened for you recently? Have you stopped to celebrate and share them?
My book writing and the search for the manuscript continues…
Focus on Magic!
ACTION POINT - Notice and be grateful for the everyday magic in your life!