📅 Thought for today:

‘The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.’

— Lois Lowry

#thoughtfortoday #memories #football #euros96 #euros20 #july4 #independenceday #SSCanberra

Today, on July 4th, the day after England won a football (soccer) match, memories are revived.

On June 15th 1996 I was sitting with a small group of people on a lower sun deck at the back of the SS Canberra, a famous cruise liner that served in the Falklands war and was now close to retirement.

In fact, P&O announced her retirement just 10 days later and by the end of 1997. She was scrapped on a beach in Pakistan, the process taking 9 months longer than the estimated 3 months.

It was a business event, and the organisers had banned watching football.

We were on a free cruise and the sponsors wanted us to do what they wanted.

Our renegade group persuaded a staff member to loan us their television and we sat huddled around the tiny screen in a completely empty part of the Canberra.

Paul Gascoigne scored *that* goal and England won the game 2-0 on a sunny Saturday at the “old” Wembley stadium.

On July 4th 1998 I watched the Independence Day fireworks on The Mall in Washington DC from the roof of the CNN building in Arlington, Virginia, just across the river from the Lincoln Memorial. I knew someone who worked for CNN and went to their staff gathering.

The Potomac was dotted with small boats with party lights and the fireworks were amazing.

Happy days.