The Ghaist o Cilla Black

Halloween at Memories Dementia Café wis somethin A’d been lookin forrit tae fur months. A wis expectin fleggin, bumps in the nicht, a few fleggsome faces an maybe the odd scraich.

Whut A wisnae expectin wis a Halloween full o luve!

Richt enough, as the efternuin went on, A stairtit tae wunner gin the ghaist o Cilla Black hid takken up hoose in St Anthony’s Community Centre. A couldnae see her ony place, but A could shuirly feel her speirit in the room.

Surprise, Surprise!

Oor first braw story wis aboot Declan, wha hid latelie met his lang-lost brither, Anthony, fur the vera first time.

Pairtit at birth, the twa brithers hid at lang last fund ane anither, an Anthony cam alang tae jyne us at the Café.

A could near hae heard Cilla whisperin in ma lug:

“Declan, we’ve a wee surprise fur ye. We’ve fund yer brither, an he’s here the day!”

Thankfully, there wis nae need fur a television studio or a dramatic curtain bein pu’ed back. Jist twa brithers, reunitit efter a lifetime apairt, enjoyin ane anither’s company ower a wheen cups o tea.

Declan proodly innerduced Anthony tae iverybody at the Café, an it wis braw tae see hoo naturally they got on.

It wis ane o thon moments that mines ye jist hoo extraordinar ordinar efternuins can becam.

Blind Date – Halloween Special

As the efternuin went on, A glanced across the room an spottit Donna an Alex lookin gey luved up.

They lookit like a couple wha’d jist come hame frae winnin a romantic holiday tae the Bahamas on Blind Date.

Anither time, A could hear Cilla in ma lug.

“Weel, chuck, tell us, hoo did ye get on?”

Gaun by the smiles on their faces, A think we can safely say the date hid gone gey weel!

By this stage, A wis beginnin tae suspect that Cilla’s ghaist wis really wanderin roond the Café, spreadin a wee bit o romance wherever she went.

Even Simon Fund Luve!

An then, jist whan A thocht the efternuin couldnae get ony mair romantic, there wis Simon.

Aye, even Simon fund himsel a leddy freen.

Her name wis Maleficent.

Noo, some fowk micht question the wisdom o fa’in fur ane o Disney’s maist notorious villains, but Simon wis fair smitten.

Beauty, as they say, is in the ee o the beholder. An wha am A tae staun in the wey o true luve?

Unfortunatelie, Maleficent hid ither business tae see tae.

Young Freddie hid persuadit her tae help him mak a magical potion, that he hoped could be rubbed on the legs o the Portadown Fitba Club players.

The objective?

Tae help them win a match this season!

A hae tae say, gin Maleficent can pu aff that particular miracle, she deserves a guid bit mair than a kiss frae Simon.

A Wee Bit Magic in the Air

So there we hid it. A Halloween efternuin that A thocht wid be full o ghaists, witches an things that gang bump in the nicht turnt oot tae be an efternuin o reunions, romance, lauchin an a wee bit o magic.

A niver did catch sicht o Cilla Black’s ghaist.

But somewhaur atween Declan an Anthony sharin a cup o tea, Donna an Alex enjoyin ane anither’s company, an Simon fa’in hopelessly in luve wi Maleficent, A could hae sworn A heard her vyce wan last time.

“Surprise, surprise!”

An maybe that’s the real magic o Memories Dementia Café.

Ye niver quite ken whut braw things micht happen whan fowk come thegither.

Mair Halloween Memories