11 April 2026 – From My Diary 1996

A grandfather sought my advice. His wife suffered from dementia. He had organised a three day holiday with his grandchildren but wondered about going. I encouraged him to create memories with his family whilst his wife was in respite. When I visited her in hospital, she was not happy. Pastoral decisions are fraught with difficulty.

A woman was delivering flowers. I suggested she give some to her neighbour, a widow who came infrequently to the kirk. The neighbour was thrilled. She sent a card and ‘I enclose a small donation anonymously towards whatever your good-self thinks best.’  The £100 confirmed the value of the  ministry of flowers.

In the S2 classes, I read George Layton’s brilliant tale, ‘The Mile’. It illuminates a surprising way to avenge  the bully. At the Primary School, I did an assembly on POGs – the slam dunk and the POG hog, an adult who confiscates POGs. Everyone in the Primary 6 turned to their  teacher and pointed their fingers at her!

By this time, I was convener of the Parish Reappraisal Committee. The meeting was in St. Columba’s Church. I walked home through the town centre. I met a drunk man. He was concerned about the way the Israelis were bombing Lebanon – innocent suffering. Thirty years later, we are in exactly the same place!

‘Dad, if you eat too much, do you just get fat?’ asked my younger son. I was puzzled. ‘As opposed to what?’ I asked. ‘Well, getting taller!’ was his reply. For him, food consumption did make him taller. Why not upwards as well as outwards?

Sarah came home from school with an unusual question from her teacher. ‘Does your dad have a D.D. after his name?’ I wrote a little limerick to satisfy the teacher’s curiosity and sent it back to school with Sarah playing on my initials D.D. Scott:

There once was a minister called Scott

who went to the school quite a lot.

He had a D.D.

before he was three

but after his name, it was not!