Poem for my Gran on the event of her 90th Birthday

I'm going to pick just a few aspects of Angela
She has many facets - a woman most angular
And whether they be obtuse observations or much more acute
There's one thing that is far from dispute
That ninety years ago this very day
In 1920, 25th of May
A brand new bonnie babe arrived
To Bryan and Lulu and changed their lives
And ever since that glorious day
She's changed our lives too, in every way.
This verse is written for all of you
To tell her story clear and true,
From 1920 way back then
To here and now in 2010.
So if you want to know the how's and when's
The why’s and where’s then here's the gen.
And listen on if you want the goods
On the baby girl born Angela Woods!

First of all I'd like to field
Angela's love for all things wheeled.
Her glee for swift driving had begun
Right from the off during year one.
In those days it was absurd
For noisome children to speak a word
They should be seen, but never heard,
So as a baby she far preferred
To give expert demonstration
Of elegant perambulation,
A pastime full of grace and poise
And thankfully remiss of noise!
Sadly I'm told her Milsom pram
Was stolen in a ruthless scam
Once aboard a west bound train
And life was never quite the same

Then came the cavalcade of cars
Owned by Bryan her dear papa.
He had Vauxhalls and other cars from Britain
And it wasn't long before she was smitten
And since that day, like a bee in a hive,
Our Angela never lacked drive.
Whichever way life's road has twisted
She's been at the wheel, her screen all de-misted,
Pressing ahead, regardless of signs,
And heedless of traffic or speeding fines!

The next aspect of Angela that warrants attention
Is her skill in performance, which by extension
Includes acting and dancing and full throated song
(though in some of these suits she's rather less strong).
I'm told back at Benenden oft was her choice
To roam round the hallways full fettered of voice
Regaling her classmates in full serenade.
I imagine that she became quite dismayed
When a mistress's voice broke through the ringing
With: "would Angela Woods PLEASE stop that singing!"
But even this critic's hurtful tirade
Could not from her calling Angela persuade.
So she started performing from quite a young age
Before RADA training and taking the stage.
She was an intrepid young actress who took parts and starred
In RSC productions of the works of the bard.
When she wasn't acting or singing, Angela danced.
Her foxtrot and tango left men quite entranced,
So much that it was really quite cruel
To pirouette out of their lives and go back to school.
And now she's ninety, well heaven knows,
She still maintains those ten twinkle toes!
So gentlemen you'd better look out
When angular Angela's dancing about!

The third of her angles I want to report
Is Angela’s love of all types of sport.
She's a great swimmer - like Neptune's own daughter
Angela is quite at home in the water.
She'll dive off the pool side with a splish and a splash
And swim massive distances quick as a flash
And whether it's front crawl or breast stroke or fly,
You'll have to rise early to see her swim by.
From going to great lengths to scaling great heights,
Angela's array of sporting delights
Includes in her eighties reaching the peak
Of Machu Pichu with nary a tweak
In her muscles or even a sprain,
And I'm sure there's a chance that she'll do it again!

But racket and ball are really the fashion
For tennis is Angela’s true sporting passion.
At junior Wimbledon, with courts green and grassy,
Her service was ace and her ground strokes were classy
And it was only a few matches later
That Angela met a challenge much greater.
A stranger, tall, Dutch and dark
Challenged our Ange to a thrash round the park
But the sport of love beat her love of sport
And courtship took place upon the grass court.
His serve was fast her return was snappy,
It was a good match with the Dutchman Cappy.
And though the winner history cannot recall
By the end of the match the score was love all.
And so sport unlocked the door in her life
Between Angela maiden and Angela wife.

But it's not just sports of which she is fond,
There are games aplenty which she has a bond.
She plays cards with the heft of a heavy weight's muscle,
With poker faced bluff and plenty of hustle
And never confined by the boundaries of rules.
During the war she went to cypher school
Where she learned to crack codes over and over
In the depths of the grey walled castle at Dover.
And after the war she continued to train
Her magnificent and lateral brain
By writing short poems and lines of verse,
So really she must think this one quite perverse!

Travel and family is the last of the sections
And though that sounds strange there are some connections.
Angela’s tendency is to globe trot.
Given the chance she's off like a shot -
From Cooden to Holland by way of the Swiss -
Seeing new cultures is Angela's bliss.
In Holland with Cappy she fit in as much
As to learn the lingo and start teaching Dutch
After being there for just a few weeks.
If it wasn't amazing that would be quite a cheek.
After Holland Cappy and Angela went off to roam
To the lower Antilles and make it their home.
And so Angela’s travels went into cessation
While they focussed instead on the next generation.
She gave birth to some children, in fact she had four.
First came two daughters. Then came two more!
And the children all grew up sun kissed and happy
On Curacao island with her and her Cappy.
(And lest we forget the countless poor strays
Whose numbers were legion and grew day by day,
And whose numbers still continue to grow
With another dog rescue not long ago!)
And when the children had children she continued to trot
Across the globe and tend to the cots
Of her brand new grandchildren and help out their mums
By showing them each just how it is done!
And now her children's children have children (there's currently three)
It's become quite a large family tree,
And with a fourth great grandchild soon on the way
It seems to be growing almost every day.

But wait just a moment, there really does seem
To be some small method behind this mad scheme
Of growing your family and placing relations
In different countries and disparate nations.
Angela dear, your plan doth unravel -
You've scattered your family just so you can travel!

There are so many more things about her I could mention,
But to go on for pages is not the intention.
And frankly there really just isn't the time
To cover off all that she's done in a rhyme.
For how can mere words describe well the life
Of a wonderful woman, a mum, gran and wife;
Of an actress, beachcomber, a card sharp, a wren,
An ace on the courts, a code breaker or friend?
She's been each of these things and played a part
In taking a place in all of our hearts.
To love Angela is simply to know her
And for that and much more we each of us owe her.

So lift up your glasses and give a hooray!
For Angela Lenderink is 90 today!