This is a short episode that honours the memory of Aunty Anne.
Anne had been my mother's mysterious cousin for a long time. I remember us visiting her and she made a bread and butter pudding for dessert. I indulged in it so much that the 9 year old me asked if he could have some more of it to go.
When Anne started coming over to Switzerland more we learnt that we both play the clarinet and that we share a love for radio. Since then, whenever I listen to the BBC I think of Aunty Ann. This story could end here but Anne made this one mistake. She told me that she had worked in BBC comedy. Thereupon I exerted myself in probing what was funny. Beginning at the low level of puns I tried to climb the level of whittiness, always longing for her feedback. I remember her telling me "Eric, that is not funny!" Well, that didn't stop me - as you can see. We moved on. Whenever I'd make an uplifting but substandard joke, Anne would ignore it. Therein, she coined the phrase my wife still uses today: "I am Bunting you."
In the end, what I did was bonding - in a very peculiar way. My jokes still try to lift off from the level of puns but I got to know Anne (and subsequently Marie) much better. Whenever someone cracks a joke in the future, I can always Bunting them by smiling gently and moving on.